Edgar Tamayo Arias Dead: Mexican Executed Three Hours Later, Said No Last Words

Edgar Tamayo Arias was declared dead at 9:32 p.m. on Wednesday Jan. 22. Mr. Tamayo Arias received his initial injection at 9:15 p.m., and the process was concluded at 9:26 p.m. The 47-year-old Mexican said no last words. The execution was originally set to take place at 6 p.m., however, following a last-minute appeal by Mr. Tamayo Arias' legal team to the Supreme Court, the execution was delayed. However, the appeal was subsequently dismissed and Mr. Tamayo Arias put to death.

Edgar Tamayo Arias spoke for two hours with his parents, Hectro Tamayo and Isabel Arias, before being given two final hours with his two young daughters. For his last meal, Tamayo asked for pork chops, rice, green vegetable, coffee and tea. He passed away inside Walls Prison, Texas, aged 47. Following his long journey to the United States, a difficult life of crime in Texas and two decades in prison, Mr. Tamayo Arias will at last rest in peace.

Edgar Tamayo Arias was sentenced to death for the murder of police Officer Guy Gaddis in Houston in 1994. An undocumented immigrant to the United States, Mr. Tamayo Arias was born in the town of Micatlán in the Mexican state of Morelos. His case attracted international attention because Texas authorities apparently neglected his right to seek consular assistance, thereby violating the Vienna Convention to which the United States is signatory.

National and international pressure had been building for weeks for the Texas court to stay the execution. Human rights groups including the International Commission Against the Death Penalty, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemned the execution. The Mexican government too attempted to intervene, and even the US Department of State warned of "international consequences" were the execution to go ahead.