Camacho expected to take plea deal

BROWNSVILLE – Angela Camacho, the Brownsville mother accused of killing her three children, will not face the death penalty, NEWSCHANNEL 5 learned.

Camacho is expected to plead guilty in exchange for three life terms. Camacho’s common-law husband, John Allen Rubio, was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death earlier this year.

Although Camacho and Rubio confessed to the killings, the legal process has been long and costly.

Timeline of events:

MARCH 11, 2003 – Police find the decapitated bodies of the children in Camacho’s Brownsville apartment. An autopsy later showed all three were strangled and stabbed to death. The couple was arrested and immediately confessed.

MARCH 12, 2003 – Rubio and Camacho are charged with three counts of capital murder. A judge orders them held without bond.

NOVEMBER 6, 2003 - John Allen Rubio is convicted on all three counts and sentenced to death by lethal injection on November 7.

MAY 6, 2004 – A court rules Camacho is competent to stand trial.

JUNE, 2005 – NEWSCHANNEL 5 learns Camacho will enter a guilty plea, sparing a trial and avoiding the death penalty.

The apartment in Brownsville where the murders happened is boarded up, sealed with an image of the Virgin Mary.

The apartment’s owner said he hasn’t rented out the room since the murders. He says he probably never will.

Neighbors said they expected Camacho to get a death sentence. Some were disappointed that she will only receive life sentences.

“All these people in this neighborhood, we cannot forget what happened here,” said Minerva Perez. “We still can't forget the kids when they used to pass by here and everything.”