San Antonio Man Executed in Triple Slaying

_{Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.} 

Former San Antonio gang member Miguel Angel Paredes was executed Tuesday for his role in a 2002 slaying that left three people dead.

“To the victim’s family, I want you to know that I hope you let go of all of the hate because of all my actions,” Paredes said before he was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 6:32 p.m. “I came in as a lion and I come as peaceful as a lamb. I’m at peace. “

He was declared dead, 22 minutes later, at 6:54 p.m., becoming the 10^th person executed in Texas this year and the 518^th put to death in Texas since the state resumed executions in 1982.

Paredes was convicted for the shooting deaths of Adrian Torres, 27; his 23-year-old girlfriend, Nelly Bravo; and Shawn Michael Cain, 23. Their burned bodies were found in nearby Frio County.

Two co-defendants, John Anthony Saenz and Greg Alvarado, were also convicted in the deaths. Bexar County prosecutors claimed the three were settling a drug debt with Torres when the murders occurred.

But Paredes, 32, told the San Antonio Express-News he and his fellow Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos associates met up with Torres, a member of a rival gang, the Mexican Mafia, to confront him about threats he had made.

Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Paredes’ final appeal, clearing the way for the execution, the last scheduled for 2014. The next execution date set is Jan. 14, for Rodney Reed of Bastrop County. 

Paredes, who was 18 at the time of the murders, was the only one of the three defendants sentenced to death. Saenz was found guilty of capital murder but sentenced to life in prison. Alvarado pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Paredes’ final appeal, clearing the way for the execution. His lawyer had argued that his previous lawyer had not properly investigated Paredes' mental health history.