CBS News
Texas inmate set to be executed on what would have been teen victim’s 41st birthday
A Texas man who admitted that he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and fatally shot the 18-year-old girlfriend of his drug dealer was set to be executed on Wednesday — what would have been the victim’s 41st birthday.
The remains of Bridget Townsend weren’t found until October 2002, nearly two years after she vanished, when Ramiro Gonzales, having received two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman, led authorities to the spot in Southwest Texas where he left her body.
Change.org
His execution by lethal injection was planned for Wednesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Patricia Townsend, the victim’s mother, told USA Today that June 26 is her daughter’s birthday. She would have turned 41 years old Wednesday.
“When they told me June 26, I started crying, crying and crying,” she said. “That’s her birthday.”
Gonzales, 41, was condemned for fatally shooting Townsend after stealing drugs and money and kidnapping her in January 2001 from a home in Bandera County, located northwest of San Antonio. He took her to his family’s ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her and killed her.
Gonzales’ lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, arguing that he has taken responsibility for what he did and that a prosecution expert witness now says he was wrong in testifying that Gonzales would be a future danger to society, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.
“He has earnestly devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation, and prayer, and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving, and deeply religious adult. He acknowledges his responsibility for his crimes and has sought to atone for them and to seek redemption through his actions,” Gonzales’ lawyers wrote Monday in their petition. A group of faith leaders have also asked authorities to stop Gonzales’ execution.
Gonzales’ lawyers argue that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has violated his constitutional rights by declining to review his claims that a prosecution expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, wrongly asserted Gonzales would be a future danger. After re-evaluating Gonzales in 2022, Gripon said his prediction was wrong.
“I just want (Townsend’s mother) to know how sorry I really am. I took everything that was valuable from a mother,” Gonzales, who was 18 years old at the time of the killing, said in a video submitted as part of his clemency request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. “So, every day it’s a continual task to do everything that I can to feel that responsibility for the life that I took.”
“Unforgivable acts”
Bridget Townsend’s brother isn’t persuaded. In various petitions and posts on Change.org, David Townsend has criticized efforts to portray Gonzales as anything other than a convicted murderer who committed “unforgivable acts.” He said the death sentence should be carried out.
“Our family seeks not revenge, but closure and a measure of peace after years of heartache – a quest that is hindered, not helped, by decisions that allow the perpetrator of our pain to remain in the public eye,” David Townsend wrote.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to halt the execution and grant clemency to Gonzalez, saying he now helps other death row inmates through a faith-based program.
“We are writing as Christians calling for you to spare the life of another Christian – Ramiro Gonzales. Ramiro has changed. Because he has changed, we believe the circumstances surrounding him should change as well,” they wrote.
On Monday, the parole board voted 7-0 against commuting Gonzales’ death sentence to a lesser penalty. Members also rejected granting a six-month reprieve.
Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored Townsend’s pleas to spare her life. They argued that jurors reached the right decision on a death sentence because he had a long criminal history and showed no remorse.
“The State’s punishment case was overwhelming,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office said. “Even if Dr. Gripon’s testimony were wiped from the punishment slate, it would not have mattered.”
If Gonzales’ execution proceeds, it would be the second this year in Texas. Convicted murderer Ivan Cantu was executed in February. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Texas currently has 185 people on death row.
“She was a beautiful person who loved life and loved people,” Patricia Townsend told USA Today about her daughter. “Every time she was with somebody she hadn’t seen in a while, she had to hug ’em … She didn’t deserve what she got.”
She told USA Today the execution will be a “joyful occasion” for her and her family,
Floodwaters pushed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene left North Carolina’s largest mountain city largely cut off Saturday by damaged roads and a lack of power and cellphone service, part of a swath of destruction across southern Appalachia that left an unknown number dead and countless worried relatives unable to reach loved ones.
In North Carolina alone, more than 400 roads remained closed on Saturday as floodwaters began to recede and reveal the extent of damage. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said that supplies were being airlifted to that part of the state. Cooper said two people died in his state, Helene killed at least 52 people across multiple states.
Among those rescued from rising waters was nurse Janetta Barfield, whose car was swamped on Friday morning as she left an overnight shift at Asheville’s Mission Hospital. She said she watched a car in front of her drive through standing water and thought it was safe to proceed. But her car stalled, and within minutes water had filled her front seat up to her chest. A nearby police officer who saw her car stall helped her to safety.
“It was unbelievable how fast that creek got just in like five minutes,” Barfield said.
Erik Verduzco / AP
Early on Saturday morning, many gas stations were closed because they didn’t have electricity, and the few that were open had hourlong lines wrapped around the block. The hub of tourism and arts, home to about 94,000 people, was unusually still after floodwaters swamped neighborhoods known for drawing visitors including Biltmore Village and the River Arts District, which is home to numerous galleries, shops and breweries.
More than 700,000 power customers were without power across North Carolina, including 160,000 in Buncombe County. Interstate 40 and I-26 were impassible in multiple locations, and a state transportation department map showed that most routes into Asheville and across much of the mountains were snarled. North Carolina’s Department of Transportation posted on social media on Saturday afternoon that “all roads in Western North Carolina should be considered closed.”
In Asheville, there was no cellular service and no timeline for when it would be restored.
“We have had some loss of life,” County Emergency Services Director Van Taylor Jones told reporters. However, he said they were not ready to report any specifics. Officials have been hindered in contacting next of kin by the communications outages. Asheville police instituted a curfew from 7:30 p.m. Friday to 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
“The curfew is to ensure the public’s safety and will be in effect until further notice,” police said.
Asheville transit services were also suspended, police said. The city advised residents to boil “all water used for human consumption,” as there was at least one significant water line break during the storm. Many residents might not be getting water or reduced or no pressure water.
Jones said the area experienced a cascade of emergencies that included heavy rain, high winds and mudslides. Officials said they tried to prepare for the storm but its magnitude was beyond what they could have imagined.
“It’s not that we (were) not prepared, but this is going to another level,” Sheriff Quentin Miller said. “To say this caught us off-guard would be an understatement.”
Erik Verduzco / AP
Atlanta resident Francine Cavanaugh said she has been unable to reach her sister, son, or friends in the Asheville area.
“My sister checked in with me yesterday morning to find out how I was in Atlanta,” she said on Saturday. “The storm was just hitting her in Asheville, and she said it sounded really scary outside.”
Cavanaugh said her sister had no idea how bad the storm would be there. She told Cavanaugh she was going to head out to check on guests at a vacation cabin “and that’s the last I heard of her. I’ve been texting everyone that I know with no response. All phone calls go directly to voicemail.”
The CEO of a hospital operator that filed for bankruptcy protection in May will step down after failing to testify before a U.S. Senate panel.
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre has overseen a network of some 30 hospitals around the country. The Texas-based company’s troubled recent history has drawn scrutiny from elected officials in New England, where some of its hospitals are located.
A spokesperson for de la Torre told the Associated Press Saturday that he “has amicably separated from Steward on mutually agreeable terms” and “will continue to be a tireless advocate for the improvement of reimbursement rates for the underprivileged patient population.”
A CBS News investigation that spanned nearly two years documented how private equity investors and de la Torre extracted hundreds of millions of dollars while healthcare workers and patients struggled to get the life-saving supplies they needed.
In August, the company closed two Massachusetts hospitals, leaving about 1,200 workers jobless, according to the state.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said earlier this month that Congress “will hold Dr. de la Torre accountable for his greed and for the damage he has caused to hospitals and patients throughout America.”
De la Torre’s resignation is effective Oct. 1. The Senate approved a resolution on Wednesday that was intended to hold him in criminal contempt for failing to testify before a committee.
The Senate panel has been looking into Steward’s bankruptcy. De la Torre did not appear before it despite being issued a subpoena. The resolution refers the matter to a federal prosecutor.
Kayla Bartkowski/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
CBS News
Climate Watch: Protecting the Planet | How climate change threatens plant and animal species
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
