Death Row Takes 15th Life this Year
Yesterday, Mark Anthony Soliz, 37, was put to death by legal injection in Huntsville, Texas. Soliz is the 15th person this year to be put to death, and the 6th in the state of Texas according to reports.
Mark Anthony Soliz, and his cousin, Jose Claremont Ramos Jr, were convicted in 2012 for the murder of Nancy Weatherly. In the summer of 2010, Soliz and Ramos went on a crime spree and committed more than 13 crimes in the Fort Worth area in a period of 8 days.
Soliz and Ramos began June 29, 2010, at 6 AM by shooting and killing a delivery man. Afterward, the two men took a stolen vehicle to the home of Nancy Weatherly. Soliz and Ramos forced their way into Nancy's home and robbed the elderly woman at gunpoint. Weatherly pleaded for her life but her cries did not sway Soliz, and he shot her point-blank in the back of her head.
Investigators say that Mark Anthony Soliz confessed to the murder of Nancy Weatherly, as well as the delivery man, Ruben Martinez. Ballistic evidence and fingerprints also match Soliz. Mark was sentenced to death row, while his cousin, Jose Claremont Ramos Jr, was sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of Nancy Weatherly and Ruben Martinez.
Soliz's attorneys fought to take him off death row, claiming that fetal alcohol syndrome left his brain-damaged. Lawyers for Soliz also stated that Mr. Soliz had an IQ of 75 and should be "considered borderline impaired." The supreme court found that those with fetal alcohol syndrome are not exempt from capital punishment and felt that Mr. Soliz did not present an adequate expert opinion that he was intellectually disabled.
Mr. Soliz was allowed to make a 5-minute final statement, and in this statement, he chose to express his sorrow and regrets for the senseless murders he committed. After being lethally injected, Mark Anthony Soliz was pronounced dead 18 minutes later at 6:32 pm.