Texas executes Ramiro Gonzales for the raping and kidnapping woman, 18, despite psychiatrist's shock change in testimony

A Texas man who admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and shooting an 18 year old was executed Wednesday night - despite a psychiatrist's change in testimony.

Ramiro Gonzalez, 41, was pronounced dead at 6.50pm local time following a lethal injection at the State Penitentiary in Huntsville for the killing of Bridget Townsend in 2001. 

Her remains were not found until one year later, when Gonzales led authorities to the spot in Southwest Texas where he left her body.

Gonzalez's death Wednesday comes on Townsend's birthday.

Ramiro Gonzales, 41, admitted to kidnapping, raping and fatally shooting Bridget Townsend, 18, in 2001

Townsend's remains were not found until the following year when Gonzalez led authorities to her body

In the moments before he took his last breath, Gonzalez apologized to the victim's family. 

'I can't put into words the pain I have caused y'all, the hurt, what I took away that I cannot give back,' he said. 'I hope this apology is enough.' 

'I never stopped praying that you would forgive me and that one day I would have this opportunity to apologize,' he continued.

'I owe all of you my life and I hope one day you will forgive me.' 

Gonzalez was then injected with a fatal dose of pentobarbital.

As the drug took effect, he took seven breaths and then started making snoring noises.

Within less than a minute, all movement stopped.

Authorities pronounced him dead just 24 minutes after he was injected with the drug.

Gonzalez was injected with a fatal dose of pentobarbital on Wednesday

He was pronounced dead at the State Penitentiary in Huntsville (pictured)

Gonzales 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 entered the house that night looking for drugs from his drug dealer, Joe Leal, but instead found Townsend - Leal's girlfriend - there alone.

After he grabbed the cash and drugs, court documents say Townsend started to call for Leal.

That's when Gonzalez overpowered her, tied her up and drove her to his grandfather's ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her and killed her. 

He proceeded to dump her body in a nearby field - and it would not  be found until October 2002, when Gonzalez led police to her remains after receiving two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman. 

But as his execution date grew closer, Gonzalez and his lawyers insisted he  is no longer the same troubled 18 year old who killed Townsend, and is no longer a threat to society.

He claimed a difficult childhood in which he physically and sexually abused sent him down the wrong path, and after his aunt was killed by a drunk driver when he was 15 years old, he 'plunged... into inconsolable grief' that sparked a 'deep descent into addiction,' the clemency petition said, according to USA Today.

Psychiatrist Edward Gripon admitted he wrongly asserted Gonzales would be a future danger

His lawyers also noted 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. 

They argued that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals 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.  

'He has earnestly devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation, and prayer, and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving, and deeply religious adult,' Gonzales' lawyers wrote Monday in their petition for clemency. 

'He acknowledges his responsibility for his crimes and has sought to atone for them and to seek redemption through his actions.' 

A group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country also 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.

Gonzalez even included a video in his clemency request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, taking responsibility for his actions. 

'I just want [Townsend's mother] to know how sorry I really am. I took everything that was valuable from a mother,' Gonzalez said in the video, according to USA Today.

'So everyday it's a continual task to do everything I can to feel that responsibility for the life that I took.' 

Texas Gov Greg Abbott refused to pardon Gonzalez for the murder

But Townsend's brother was not 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.

Townsend's mother, Patricia Townsend, also said Gonzalez's childhood 'should not have anything to do with it.'

'I know a lot of people that had a hard childhood,' she told USA Today. 'He made his choice.' 

The parole board ultimately voted 7-0 against commuting Gonzalez's death sentence to a lesser penalty on Monday. 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.'

Gonzalez's execution Wednesday was the second this year in the state of Texas, and the eight in the United States.