Texas Inmate Ramiro Gonzales Executed as James Broadnax's Appeal Rejected

Ramiro Gonzales, a Texas inmate convicted of the 2001 kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday after 17 years on death row. Despite his lawyer's appeals and a psychiatrist's revised testimony negating the initial claim that Gonzales would be a future danger, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution. Gonzales, who had expressed deep remorse and claimed to have undergone a spiritual transformation, had also sought clemency from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which was unanimously rejected. Bridget Townsend's family, present at the execution, expressed relief and a sense of closure. Gonzales' case highlighted ongoing debates about the death penalty, particularly around issues of redemption and the accuracy of psychological assessments used in sentencing. The Supreme Court also denied an appeal from Texas death row inmate James Broadnax, who alleged racial bias in his 2009 trial, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.