The widow and daughter of Hugo Solano sobbed when Juan Martin Garcia apologized while strapped down in the Texas death chamber
Hugo Solano, a Christian missionary from Guadalajara, Mexico, had immigrated to Houston in September 1998 so his children would be educated in the U.S. Two weeks later, Solano, 36, was shot dead during a robbery by Juan Martin Garcia, two of Garcia’s cousins and another man. When Solano refused to hand over his money, Garcia shot him four times in the head and neck. The robbery netted the four thugs $8.
Garcia, 18 at the time of the murder, has steadfastly claimed that he did not intend to shoot Solano, but when the man started punching him, he began to fear for his life. That sounds rather ridiculous considering Solano was shot four times while outnumbered 4-1 and not armed.
Juan Garcia was linked to at least eight armed robberies and two attempted murders before and after he killed Solano. He was sentenced to death while his three companions received long prison terms.
Garcia, 35, was executed Tuesday with a single dose of pentobarbital that was probably compounded by a Texas Department of Criminal Justice pharmacist. The execution went off flawlessly. As the injection started, Garcia winced, raised his head and shook it, then gurgled and snored once before lying still. He was pronounced dead 12 minutes after the injection began.
As he lay strapped on the gurney, Garcia apologized in Spanish to Solano’s widow Ana and her daughter who were there to witness the execution. “The harm that I did to your dad and husband … I hope this brings you closure,” he said. “I never wanted to hurt any of you all.”
Upon hearing the apology, Mrs. Solano and her daughter began to sob and told Garcia they loved him. After the execution, Ana Solano said she wished the execution had not taken place. “It’s about God,” she said. “It’s about Jesus.”
Garcia found himself in the death chamber because of a simple traffic stop. A couple of weeks after Solano’s death, cops pulled Garcia over for a broken headlight. A gun fell to the ground as he got out of his car. He was not arrested at the time, but the gun was seized. Juan’s luck ran out when ballistic tests determined the gun was used to kill Solano.
Texas has executed 529 murderers since 1976. Garcia was the eleventh one executed so far this year. Licho Escamilla is scheduled to be executed next week for the 2001 murder of a Dallas police officer.
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