Man who strangled 5-year-old and burnt her body after Walmart kidnap executed

17 November 2023 , 01:33

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David Renteria was convicted of the murder of a five-year-old after abducting her from a Walmart centre (Image: AP)

A Texas man who strangled to death a 5-year-old girl and then burnt her body after snatching her from a local Walmart supercenter in 2001 has been put to death.

Alexandra Flores was out Christmas shopping with her family on November 18, 2001, when she was abducted from the El Paso store by David Renteria. He allegedly strangled her, then dumped her body in an alleyway about 16 miles (25km) from the Walmart, leaving it badly burned as he attempted to get rid of evidence.

Flores had been the youngest of eight children in her family, and prosecutors alleged that Renteria had patrolled the store for around 40 minutes before he found her, zeroed in on her and then snatched her. The grainy surveillance footage from the store showed him walking out with the young girl.

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The actual details about what happened next remain unclear, but Renteria has consistently claimed that members of the Barrio Azteca gang in the area, specifically a member who went by "Flaco," forced him to kidnap her after threatening his family's well-being. He admitted to kidnapping Flores at their behest, but he denied his involvement in the murder — that was the gang, he said.

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Grainy CCTV footage showed Alexandra Flores in the store moments before she was abducted (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

Renteria, 53, was pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m. CST after a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the deat of Alexandra Flores. He prayed, sang and asked for forgiveness before the drugs began flowing. "I'm sorry for all the wrongs I have done. And for those wHo have called for my death, who are about to murder me, I forgive you," he said in a final statement.

Prosecutors said Flores, the youngest of eight children, was with family on a shopping excursion to the El Paso store on Nov. 18, 2001, when she was led from the store by Renteria, strangled and her body set on fire. The child's remains were found the next day in an alley some 16 miles (25 kilometers) away.

Renteria's execution proceeded after the U.S. Supreme Court declined two separate defense requests for a stay earlier in the day. One request stemmed from efforts by Renteria's attorneys to gain access to evidence they said could have shown he was not responsible for her death.

Another appeal rejected by the high court without comment late Thursday focused on claims the state's supply of pentobarbital, the execution drug, had degraded and would cause him "terror" and "severe pain" in violation of the Eight Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Authorities said evidence showed Renteria, a convicted sex offender, carried out the abduction and killing alone and that his lawyers did not raise that defense at his trial. Blood found in Renteria's van matched the slain girl's DNA, according to prosecutors, who added that his palm print was found on a plastic bag put over the girl's head before her body was set on fire.

Renteria was accused of patrolling the store for about 40 minutes before zeroing in on the 5-year-old girl. Grainy surveillance video showed her following Renteria out of the store.

The execution was one of two carried out Thursday in the U.S. In Alabama, Casey McWhorter received a lethal injection Thursday evening for fatally shooting a man during a 1993 robbery.

Alexandra Flores was out Christmas shopping with her family on November 18, 2001, when she was abducted from the El Paso Walmart supercenter (KFOX14)

Renteria's lawyers unsuccessfully argued that authorities had violated his constitutional rights by denying them access to the prosecution's file on the inmate as part of their efforts to bolster his claims he didn't kill the girl.

Renteria had long claimed that members of a gang called Barrio Azteca, including a person going by the nickname "Flaco," forced him to take the girl by making threats to his family - and that it was the gang members who killed her.

The claims by Renteria's lawyers were based on witness statements released by El Paso police in 2018 and 2020 in which a woman told investigators that her ex-husband, a Barrio Azteca member, was involved in the death of a girl who had gone missing from a Walmart.

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Alexandra Flores was shopping with her family when she was taken from the El Paso store (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

A federal judge in 2018 said that the woman's statement was "fraught with inaccuracies" and was "insufficient to show Renteria's innocence." In August, state District Judge Monique Reyes in El Paso granted a request to stay the execution and ordered prosecutors to turn over their files in the case. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later overturned Reyes' orders.

On Tuesday, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted 7-0 against commuting Renteria's death sentence to a lesser penalty.
In 2006, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out Renteria's death sentence, saying prosecutors provided misleading evidence that gave jurors the impression Renteria was not remorseful.

During a new resentencing trial in 2008, Renteria was again sentenced to death.
Renteria was the eighth inmate in Texas put to death this year. There have been 23 executions this year in the U.S., including Thursday's executions of Renteria and McWhorter on Thursday.

Jeremiah Hassel