John Allen Rubio, 46, received a lethal injection Thursday after years of appeals over his conviction and mental health claims.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Texas executed John Allen Rubio on Thursday evening for the 2003 killings of three young children in Brownsville, bringing an end to a capital case that included two trials, years of appeals and late efforts to block the state’s use of lethal injection.
Rubio, 46, was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. Nov. 12 at the state prison in Huntsville, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and reports from witnesses to the execution. He was the eighth person executed by Texas in 2026. His death came hours after Oklahoma carried out a separate execution, bringing the nationwide total for the year to 37.
Rubio was convicted in connection with the March 11, 2003, deaths of three children in Brownsville: his infant daughter, Mary Jane Rubio; John Esteban Rubio, a toddler; and 3-year-old Julissa Angela Quezada, the daughter of Rubio’s common-law wife, Angela Camacho. State records describe the killings as involving stabbing and decapitation. The children were killed inside the apartment where the family lived.
Camacho was also charged in the case and later pleaded guilty to murder. She received three life sentences for her role in the children’s deaths. According to court records and news reports, Rubio told investigators after the killings that he believed the children were possessed. His mental condition later became a central issue in his trials and appeals.
Rubio’s first capital murder conviction and death sentence were overturned in 2007. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that prosecutors had improperly used statements Camacho made outside court after she invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination. The ruling gave Rubio another trial rather than ending the prosecution against him.
At his second trial in 2010, Rubio pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Defense experts testified that he had paranoid schizophrenia and argued that severe mental illness affected his actions. Prosecutors challenged that assessment through their own expert testimony. A Cameron County jury again convicted Rubio of capital murder and sentenced him to death.
Rubio continued challenging the conviction and sentence in state and federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in January 2026 to review an earlier federal appeal. In a later challenge, Rubio’s attorneys argued that testimony from a prosecution psychiatric expert had given jurors a false or misleading picture of his mental health history. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected that effort shortly before the scheduled execution.
Rubio also joined another Texas death row prisoner in litigation challenging the state’s lethal-injection drug. The inmates argued that Texas should be prevented from using its pentobarbital supply because of questions about the drug’s age and preparation. The challenge was unsuccessful, and the Texas Supreme Court on Nov. 11 rejected another attempt by Rubio and condemned prisoner Reinaldo Dennes to obtain emergency relief.
Before the execution, Rubio thanked relatives, friends and prison officials for supporting him during his incarceration and spoke about his religious faith. He apologized to Camacho’s family and acknowledged that his execution could not undo what had happened. His final remarks also expressed continued affection for Camacho, who remains imprisoned for her role in the case.
The killings had a lasting effect on Brownsville. The apartment building where the children died was later demolished, and the property was eventually turned into a park and community garden, according to Associated Press reporting. The case remained one of the Rio Grande Valley city’s most widely remembered crimes more than two decades after the children were killed.
Rubio’s execution was one of several carried out across the United States in 2026 as the use of capital punishment remained concentrated in a relatively small number of states. Texas prison records show another execution is scheduled for Nov. 19, when Reinaldo Dennes is set to be put to death for a separate Harris County murder case.
With Rubio’s execution completed, the criminal case that resulted in his death sentence has reached its final stage. Camacho remains incarcerated, while Texas continues to maintain additional execution dates for prisoners whose convictions and death sentences remain in effect.
Author note: Last updated November 13, 2026.