USA - Texas. Peter Anthony Cantu, 35, Hispanic, was executed

Peter Anthony Cantu, 35, Hispanic, was executed. He was the leader of a former gang of Houston teenagers who raped and murdered two young girls who were walking home from a neighborhood party in June 1993. The victims were Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16. 2 of Cantu's fellow gang members were put to death earlier, Derrick O'Brien on July 11, 2006 (see) and Jose Medellin on Aug. 5,  2008 (see). 2 other members, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, avoided the death chamber when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed executing those who were under 18 at the time of their crime. A 6th person convicted in the case, Vernancio Medellin, was 14 years old at the time of the attack and is serving a 40-year prison term, the maximum sentence for a juvenile in Texas. Cantu becomes the 16th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 463rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Cantu becomes the 36th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1224th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17th, 1977.