Background
Upon learning about the beating that Cuellar supposedly administered to his mother, John Richard Baltazar, also known plainly as John Baltazar, armed himself with a gun and sought out his friend, Johnny Gonzalez.
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Adriana Marines
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Her death sparked wide media attention both locally and nationwide. Narciso Cuellar usually lay down or slept at that porch bed, but that night, he was not in the house. Baltazar arrived and, according to his own admission, he began shooting in the dark, as the house"s lights had apparently been turned official
Some reports point out that Baltazar aggressively kicked down the Marines" home"s front door before starting to shoot.
Vanessa Marines was able to survive, but never fully recovered from her chest wound as the bullet had to be left there by doctors, and it seemed to be moving towards her vertebrae, with the medics that have attended her since hoping that it can be removed later on. Adriana Marines, meanwhile, died instantly.
John Richard Baltazar and Johnny Gonzalez were arrested and Baltazar was sentenced to death by lethal injection in March 1998. Johnny Gonzalez, meanwhile, was sentenced to 80 years in jail for his apparent role in the crime and can apply for parole in 2037.
The convictions resulted in a wide controversy, as groups of activists against death row convictions and also advocates of the same sentence confronted each other, with the case once again making headline news in the state of Texas.
In September 1999, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Baltazar"s status as a death row member, and several other appeals were also denied. Baltazar expressed regrets for Adriana Marines" death, saying that "(He was) sorry for Adriana", and adding that "There"s no words for (him) to say how sorry (he was) for the little girl". That"s why he got shot."
On January 15, 2003, and under the blitz of much media coverage, John Richard Baltazar was given a lethal injection for the death of Adriana Marines.
He did not say any final statements, choosing to salute the Marines family by waving his head at them instead of asking to be forgiven.
