"We can't go back and change what happened to your family, but we can change for others who come along, and we'll leave a lasting legacy for your daughters that will last for eternity," Kahan said. /T 62444 People normally immune to the shock of another murder were stunned by the savagery of what happened on a moonless muggy night along the banks of White Oak Bayou. This is a carousel. Oops, something didn't work. Learn more about managing a memorial . To save time, they took a shortcut that led along railroad tracks near T.C. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Please try again later. Prior to his execution, O'Brien expressed his regrets for his actions to the families of Pea and Ertman. endobj 0000007142 00000 n Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. It was Cantu who asserted Ertman and Pea had to be killed so as not to later bear witness against them. I wish to hell he could have died the way she died. Sorry! /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 791 ] It will not erase from memory the faces in the photographs, or the knowledge of what happened to them. Learn more about merges. They were both abducted and murdered. Death penalty opponents protested the impending execution. /ID [] Jos Medelln got a ring with an "E", so he could give it to his girlfriend, Esther. As previously stated, Jennifer Louise Ertman who was born on August 15, 1978, and Elizabeth Christine Pena who was born on June 21, 1977 were both raped and killed on June 24, 1993. Houston was stunned when Cantu and his gang were arrested. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Huntsville Unit prison. The 2008 execution of one of the perpetrators, Jos Medelln . They were kicked, teeth knocked out and hair pulled out and ribs broken. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Possibly he did not. Anderson, a Houston Police Department officer who worked on the murder case, described the murder as "part of the impetus for the antigang programs in Houston." The case spurred legislative reform in Texas' criminal justice system. Corey Mitchell's book "Pure Murder," which details the story of the killings of Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman, was released in 2008 and became a best seller.Notice: This memorial is being managed in abeyance until a proper manager requests control of the memorial. [36] Governor Perry rejected calls from Mexico and Washington, DC, to delay the execution, citing the torture, rape, and strangulation of two teenaged girls in Houston 15 years ago as just cause for the death penalty. HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CBS/AP/KHOU) Tonight, Peter Anthony Cantu will be executed for two of the most notorious deaths in Houston history, the 1993 rapes and murders of 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena. Where [are] you going?" New development was everywhere, spurred by a mayor and city council devoted to the cause of building. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. 0000008539 00000 n Both victims were badly decaying, and dental records were used for identification. He then elaborated that he had raped both girls. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. The gang was arrested. [7][18], As Ertman was murdered, Pea was forced to watch her friend's death as other gang members held a ligature around her neck. When the teacher told Cantu the trouble he would get into for such a thing, he said he didn't care. At least 29 dead, 85 injured after trains collide in Greece: officials, Driver feedback needed for 3-mile Hardy Toll extension into downtown, Man found dead in middle of Fort Bend County crosswalk, police say. Jos Medelln got a ring with an "E," so he could give it to his girlfriend, Esther. "Venancio Medellin was spared from a death sentence because of his age when he helped five other gang members rape, strangle and stomp Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena to death on a hot summer night in Houston in 1993, but he should spend every day of the rest of his sentence locked up for everyone's sake," District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. He then apologized to his family before being executed by lethal injection. /Length 1385 Leaving the crime scene, Peter Cantu handed Venancio Medelln a Goofy wristwatch taken from Ertman's body, saying, "Take this, I don't want it.". Seven minutes later, O'Brien was dead. He is now 41 and has served 27 years of his 40-year sentence. Oops, we were unable to send the email. The Ertmans left without saying a word. Six gang members were sentenced. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. When the pair realized that they were going to be late returning home, they decided to leave the party to commit the curfew both had promised to their parents. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. The gang members then stomped on both girls' throats to ensure their deaths. She was thrown to the ground by gang members Peter Cantu and Derrick Sean O'Brien. A system error has occurred. << to Ertman. The lethal injection was performed at 6:09 pm, and at 6:17 pm, Cantu was officially pronounced dead. [30][41][42], The parents of the murder victims successfully advocated for the State of Texas to allow victims' relatives to have permission to witness executions. cemeteries found in Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Sources: Pure Murder by Corey Mitchell You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. English Both girls were sexually assaulted by all but one of the gang members, 14-year-old Venancio "Yuni" Medelln, on a minimum of four occasions. Wage growth is slowing. Shortly thereafter, he held a beer aloft, proclaiming things were to be great. The State of Texas, represented by Solicitor General Ted Cruz, challenged Bush's order, and the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that only the Congress of the United States has the right to order hearings to be held. [16], Realizing that the girls would be capable of identifying them, Cantu[17] ordered the members to kill the girls. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. AP. % Jennifer Latson of the Houston Chronicle said that the deaths of the girls "shook" the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston "to its foundation. [n 2] According to trial testimony, both Pea and Ertman repeatedly glanced in the direction of one another several times throughout their ordeal in likely gestures of concern and despair. Peter Anthony Cantu, Jos Ernesto Medelln, Derrick Sean O'Brien, Efrain Prez, and Raul Omar Villarreal received death sentences. [48] Another memorial exists at T.C. AN ORGY OF VIOLENCE At first, the teenage boys grabbed Elizabeth, while Jennifer escaped. "It's very, very rare that you can refer to a case by the victims' families and people will know what you're talking about," he said. All those believed responsible were ultimately arrested. In 1993, while walking home Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were sexually assaulted and murdered by a group of boys/men that called themselves "The Black and White Gang". Medellin's brother, Jose, was put to death in 2008. ", It also had other ramifications. On the night of June 24, 1993 -. Elizabeth's father said he was not surprised. The deaths of teenagers Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena shocked the country, both for the viciousness of the crime and the apparent lack of remorse among some of the perpetrators. Their photos are familiar now, attached to countless news reports since then: the same two pictures, teen girls who despite the makeup were girls still. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. 25 years after the murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. If you're planning on using the METRO to helo you get to and from the Houston Rodeo, here's everything you need to plan out your ride! He told Venancio Medelln to stay behind because he was too little to watch. The other gang members forced the girls into a wooded area. After the gang left, Christina Cantu convinced Joe Cantu to report the crime to the police. The families of both Ertman and Pea strongly favored the execution(s). cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. . I thought you might like to see a memorial for Jennifer Lee Ertman I found on Findagrave.com. The murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, occurred on June 24, 1993.The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers.. The execution of, Now 35, Cantu declined requests for an interview. Governor Rick Perry argued that Texas is not bound to World Court rulings. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? He was the ringleader in a crime that struck a raw nerve for its sheer brutality: the repeated gang rape, torture and murder of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena in 1993. What would I tell them? All those believed responsible were ultimately arrested. She then attempted to flee. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. Try again. Look at me! /Resources << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI ] /ColorSpace << Their story has been oft-repeated, in the retelling burnished to a handful of details: the fateful choice of a route home, the abduction from the railroad tracks, the decision of one to turn back when she heard her friend scream, the clothes ripped from their bodies, the multiple and repeated assaults, the inexplicable decision that they must die in a manner equally brutal. [47] Medellin is scheduled to be released in 2034. Instead they are forever 14 and 16, a pair of innocents who slipped into the darkness of Houston's near north side one summer night and re-emerged in bright sunlight on a funeral home gurney targets of a crime so incomprehensible that it was, in the words of one of the lawyers later involved, burned into the collective consciousness of the city. Try again later. [2], At 4:15 p.m. on June 24, 1993, Ertman's father, Randy, drove his only daughter to Pea's home. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. "He was a kid you remembered," one former teacher said. He was the youngest of six members of the so-called Black and White gang when they brutally raped and killed Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in June 1993. . [5], Leaving the crime scene, Cantu handed Venancio Medelln a Goofy wristwatch taken from Ertman's body, saying, "Take this, I don't want it. Venancio Medellin was part of a group that ambushed Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, as they were walking near TC Jester on June 24, 1993. The right of a defendant to talk with his or her consulate is specified in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations; the United States is a party to the convention, although the U.S. withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986 to accept the court's jurisdiction only on a case-by-case basis. /Type /Page Venancio Medelln, the brother of Jos Medelln, was 14 at the time of the murder, the same age as Jennifer Ertman. Authorities later linked him and O'Brien to a killing six months before the attack on Ertman and Pena. Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman were friends who went to Waltrip High School in Houston. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. A tip led authorities to the bodies. Cantu is the last of three men scheduled to die by lethal injection for the June 1993 murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena (AP). of Criminal Justice), How Alaska became one of fentanyl's deadliest frontiers, Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect, Where things stand in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. During the trial, the Ertmans asked to address the court. Kahan, who had become close to the families, said Ertman's bellicose rebuke was an inevitable culmination of eight exhausting months and five trials filled with gruesome details of his daughter's death. The death sentences of Efrain Prez and Raul Villarreal were commuted to life imprisonment in 2005, following, List of people executed in Texas, 20002009, List of people executed in Texas, 20102019, List of people executed in the United States in 2006, List of people executed in the United States in 2010, "Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena Murdered While Walking Near Houston Park 25 Years Ago", "Peter Anthony Cantu Execution: Mastermind of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena Murders to Die Tonight", "Medellin set to die Tuesday for Ertman-Pea killings", "Medellin executed for rape, murder of Houston teens", Murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, "Bodies of Two Girls Discovered: Grim Find Ends Weekend Search in Northwest Houston", "Father of Murdered Girl Questions Bush's Support to Halt Killer's Execution", "Media Advisory: Jose Medellin Scheduled For Execution", "San Antonio turned from bully to savage killer", "Jos Ernesto Medelln v. Texas (Per Curiam)", "Texas Executes Mexican Despite Objections", "Dad confronts parole board to keep daughter's murderer in prison", "Ex-gang leader executed for '93 deaths of 2 Houston girls", "Last Statement Derrick O'Brien" at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice profile, "Father of Brutally Murdered Teen, victims' Rights Advocate Randy Ertman Dead at 61", Victim's "Advocate Won't be Witnessing Execution", "Parole Denied for Gang Member Convicted in 1993 Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena", In Memory of Elizabeth Pea and Jennifer Ertman - 1993, Details of Cantu's 1997 appeal against his convictions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murders_of_Jennifer_Ertman_and_Elizabeth_Pea&oldid=1137725274. ). 0000008255 00000 n HUNTSVILLE, Texas --The State of Texas executed Peter Cantu Tuesday evening for the brutal murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. Seventeen years later, the simple mention of their names still evokes a shudder, a shake of the head that such a thing could happen. On death row, Cantu, now 35, was classified among the best-behaving inmates. / CBS News. When Elizabeth and Jenny reached a bayou near a. Then, on the morning of June 30, the city awoke to learn of events of a few days earlier that defied belief. Their photos are familiar now, attached to countless news reports since then: the same two pictures, teen girls who despite the makeup were girls still. The case forced a change in state police. "This is. The attackers shouted obscenities at TV cameras when they were arrested and reportedly bragged of their crimes once in their jail cells. Court appeals to delay the punishment appeared exhausted. << For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. In Houston near T.C thought you might like to see a memorial you manage or suggest changes the... 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