'We've been down this road:' Reactions to judge finding John Allen Rubio competent to be executed
Brownsville, TX (KRGV) — John Allen Rubio, the Brownsville man convicted of beheading his three children, was found competent to be executed during a Wednesday morning competency hearing.
Rubio's execution remains scheduled for Nov. 12.
Judge Noe Gonzalez's findings still have to be reviewed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Channel 5 News is working to learn if that review will delay the execution date.
The decision came after years of appeals. Judge Gonzalez said two experts evaluated Rubio and reached the same conclusion.
Judge Gonzalez asked Rubio if he understood the consequences of what he did and what was about to happen. Rubio said he did.
‘Everybody was seeing me as a monster:’ Exclusive interview with John Allen Rubio
Judge Gonzalez also asked Rubio if he had anything to say. Rubio said no.
Rubio and his common-law wife, Angela Camacho, were both convicted in the 2003 deaths of 3-year-old Julissa, 1-year-old John, and 2-month-old Mary Jane. Camacho is serving life behind bars.
Investigators say Rubio and Camacho killed the children because they couldn't support them financially. Since his arrest in 2003, Rubio has claimed his children were possessed by demons.
A relative of two of the children who asked not to be identified attended the hearing. She said it was the first time she had seen Rubio since the children were killed.
“I was very emotional, and I was angry when I walked in the court,” the aunt of two victims said. "I feel good. I feel that the judge told him the correct words and made the correct decision."
After the ruling, she yelled at Rubio in court, and officers escorted her out. Outside the courtroom, the aunt told Channel 5 News she had thought about what she wanted to do.
“And I made my decision, and I stood up and yelled at him, and I don't regret it, not one bit,” the aunt said.
READ MORE: 'You're going to meet your father, the Devil:' John Allen Rubio found competent to be executed
Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the ruling. He said he has seen death penalty cases change minutes before an execution.
“I've been on death row twice on cases where I was there for executions, and the execution was going to be at 6... at five minutes to six, the phone rang, and it was the Supreme Court stopping the execution. That happened twice,” Saenz said. "We've been down this road many, many times. And it looks like on November 12, justice may finally be brought to the children who lost their lives on that day."
Watch the video above for the full story.
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