John Joe Amador, 32, was executed August 29, 2007 at 6:37 p.m. CDT by lethal injection in the Walls Correctional Facility at Huntsville, Texas for the January 4, 1994 murder of Reza Ayari, 32.
Around 3:30 a.m. Taxi Express driver Reza Ayari picked up Amador and his 16-year-old cousin, Sara Rivas, who directed Ayari to a desolate area in the town of Poteet. When the cab stopped, and with no warning or provocation, Amador fatally shot Ayari with a .380 caliber handgun. Soon after, on Amador's command, Rivas shot Garza in the head with a .25 caliber handgun, and both victims were dragged out of the taxi and dumped face-down on the gravel driveway. After Garza's pockets were searched and emptied, Amador and Rivas drove off in the taxi, which was later found abandoned in the median of a highway in San Antonio. A passing motorist witnessed Amador and Rivas walk away from the vehicle. Amador all but confessed when he identified to police the caliber of the guns used in the shootings, described how he "would have" committed the murder, asserted that he "will take [his] death sentence" if prosecutors could "prove it in court," and warned his girlfriend by letter not to testify. During the punishment phase of his murder trial, Amador threatened to kill the judge and prosecutors. At the time, Amador also was on parole from California for helping kill his stepfather, who allegedly had sexually and physically abused him.
John Joe Amador, 32, was executed August 29, 2007 at 6:37 p.m. CDT by lethal injection in the Walls Correctional Facility at Huntsville, Texas for the January 4, 1994 murder of Reza Ayari, 32.
Around 3:30 a.m. Taxi Express driver Reza Ayari picked up Amador and his 16-year-old cousin, Sara Rivas, who directed Ayari to a desolate area in the town of Poteet. When the cab stopped, and with no warning or provocation, Amador fatally shot Ayari with a .380 caliber handgun. Soon after, on Amador's command, Rivas shot Garza in the head with a .25 caliber handgun, and both victims were dragged out of the taxi and dumped face-down on the gravel driveway. After Garza's pockets were searched and emptied, Amador and Rivas drove off in the taxi, which was later found abandoned in the median of a highway in San Antonio. A passing motorist witnessed Amador and Rivas walk away from the vehicle. Amador all but confessed when he identified to police the caliber of the guns used in the shootings, described how he "would have" committed the murder, asserted that he "will take [his] death sentence" if prosecutors could "prove it in court," and warned his girlfriend by letter not to testify. During the punishment phase of his murder trial, Amador threatened to kill the judge and prosecutors. At the time, Amador also was on parole from California for helping kill his stepfather, who allegedly had sexually and physically abused him.
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