A South Texas man convicted in the killings of three young children he helped raise was executed Thursday evening, nearly 23 years after the murders.
John Allen Rubio, 46, of Brownsville, was put to death by lethal injection at a state prison in Huntsville, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Rubio was convicted of stabbing and beheading Julissa Quezada, 3, John Esteban Rubio, 1, and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months old. He was prosecuted alongside his common-law wife, Angela Camacho.
Rubio was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m., 21 minutes after the lethal injection began, the AP reported.
A Texas prison fence, barbed wire and guard are seen on Jan. 22, 2025. John Allen Rubio was executed in Texas on Nov. 12, 2026. (Cecile Clocheret/AFP via Getty Images; Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
The execution, scheduled for 6 p.m., proceeded without incident.
In his final statement, Rubio thanked his friends and family for their “love and understanding,” said he was “not the same person I once was” and expressed his love for his wife, according to the AP.
“I want to say I’m sorry to my wife’s family,” he said. “I can’t change the past, but I can tell you my life is going to be over. But that’s not going to make you happy.
“I’m going to be with my kids in a little bit,” he added. “I’m ready to go to heaven to be with my lord and savior.”
John Allen Rubio was convicted of killing three young children in 2003 and sentenced to death. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)
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The execution ended a case that began on March 11, 2003, when Rubio and Camacho killed the three children inside a windowless apartment.
Court records show that Rubio was not the biological father of the two older children, but he had assumed a parental role in their lives, the outlet reported.
Before the killings, Rubio reportedly claimed the children were possessed and portrayed himself as the “chosen one” who was destined to save the world.
Rubio later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Defense experts reportedly diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, while prosecution experts disputed those conclusions.
His attorneys also described a severely troubled childhood, pointing to violence, toxic parents, drug use and prostitution as circumstances that impaired his development, the AP reported.
Camacho pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence for her role in the murders, according to reports.
The apartment building where the children were killed was later demolished. The property has since been converted into a community park and garden, according to the AP.
This image provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows James Pavatt in February 2023. Pavatt was executed just hours before Rubio received a lethal injection. (Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network; Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP)
Rubio’s execution was the second of two scheduled in the United States on Thursday.
Several hours earlier, James Pavatt, 73, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma. Pavatt had been convicted of plotting and carrying out the 2001 killing of his partner’s estranged husband.
