Mexican Citizen Executed in Texas for 1997 Rape & Murder

A Mexican citizen on death row in Texas, finally met his fate on Wednesday night.

KWTX reported that Ruben Cardenas, 47, was executed Wednesday night in Texas for the 1997 rape, abduction and murder of his 16-year-old cousin, Mayra Laguna.

The execution was finalized after numerous unsuccessful appeals took place for Cardenas.

Laguna was taken from a bedroom she shared with her younger sister at her family's apartment in McAllen. She was later found near a lake in a canal.

Cardenas confessed to the police that he had sex with Laguna, and fatally beat her as she was fighting for him to get off of her. Cardenas later claimed his confession was coerced.

Cardenas' attorneys filed two federal lawsuits to delay the execution, but they both were dismissed. One of his attorneys attempted to argue that Cardenas' civil rights and due process rights were not upheld and that evidence was withheld by state officials.

State attorneys concluded that the lawsuit was improper, and the state courts refused advanced DNA tests for Cardenas because they would not show evidence to exonerate him of the crime.

Cardenas' attorneys appealed the dismissal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They later appealed to the United States Supreme Court.