At press time, the state was set to execute Guadalupe Esparza for the 1999 sexual assault and murder of 7-year-old Alyssa Vasquez. Esparza was slated for lethal injection on Wednesday evening; courts had rejected a bid to have his execution postponed while lawyers pursued an appeal on grounds that he might be mentally retarded, the San Antonio Express-News reported this summer. Esparza had previous convictions for aggravated sexual assault and for possession of cocaine. He will be the 477th inmate executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty and the 238th to die under Gov. Rick Perry.

This article appears in November 18 • 2011.

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