Death Chamber for Ricardo Ortiz high-ranking prison gang member whose violent history included an attack on an inmate with a homemade spear
high-ranking prison gang member whose violent history included an attack on an inmate with a homemade spear was headed to the Texas death chamber Thursday night for fatally injecting a fellow prisoner with an overdose of heroin.Ricardo Ortiz would be the second condemned killer executed in Texas in as many nights and the fifth this year in the nation's most active death penalty state. Ortiz, 46, was sentenced to die for the slaying of Gerardo Garcia, 22, who authorities said was killed at the El Paso County jail more than 11 years ago. The slaying was in retaliation for snitching on Ortiz and so he couldn't testify against Ortiz about bank robberies the pair were suspected of carrying out, authorities said.Ortiz sought to put off the execution so he could get federal money to pay for legal representation to file a state clemency request. His appeal, however, was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court about two hours before he was scheduled to die.The appeal issue is under review by...