MOISES SANDOVAL MENDOZA, 41, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening at the Huntsville state penitentiary in Texas. He was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m., according to The Associated Press. Mendoza was convicted for the brutal 2004 murder of 20-year-old mother RACHELLE O’NEIL TOLLESON, whose body he set on fire and buried in a rural field.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice detailed that Mendoza attended a party at Tolleson’s Farmersville home, where she lived with her 6-month-old daughter, days before the murder. On the day of the crime, he choked and sexually assaulted Tolleson, then dragged her into a field and stabbed her in the throat. Afterward, he transported her body to a dirt pit in Collin County, Texas, where he set it ablaze to destroy evidence and concealed it under a brush pile.
Tolleson’s daughter was discovered the following day by her grandmother. Mendoza’s friend alerted authorities after learning of the crime, leading to the recovery of Tolleson’s body, which was identified through dental records. Mendoza later confessed to the murder, though the motive remains unclear. Prior to this crime, he had a history of violence, including attacks on female family members and the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, according to The Associated Press.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Mendoza’s final appeals on Wednesday, rejecting his request for a stay of execution and a petition for a writ of certiorari. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also declined to commute his death sentence earlier this week. The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) argued that Mendoza had undergone significant personal transformation during his two decades in prison, becoming an empathic man of faith who positively influenced those around him, including guards and fellow inmates. He earned certificates in self-improvement and faith-based programs and maintained strong family ties.
Mendoza was the third person executed in Texas this year and the thirteenth nationwide. His execution marks the end of a long legal battle following one of the state’s most heinous crimes.
[Sources: The Associated Press, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty]