Texas man convicted of killing ex-classmate set to be executed

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Death row inmate Moises Mendoza, 41, convicted of murdering a former high school classmate in 2004, is scheduled to be the third man executed by Texas this year.

Mendoza confessed to the killing of 20-year-old Rachelle Tolleson in a small town outside of Dallas before his 2005 trial. According to court documents, Mendoza took Tolleson from her home, where she was alone with her 5-month-old daughter, and sexually assaulted the woman before killing her and leaving her body in a field.

Mendoza later moved Tolleson’s body to a more remote location and burned it, where a man found it six days later, according to court records. Mendoza has contested the sexual assault, claiming Tolleson left willingly with him, however, he did admit to killing her.

Mendoza’s lawyers have filed several appeals, including one to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, alleging prosecutors had used false testimony during Mendoza’s sentencing to convince jurors he would be violent while incarcerated. Those appeals were struck down April 15. Mendoza’s lawyers subsequently filed for a judicial review of the Texas court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a stay of execution.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office filed a responding brief with the Supreme Court, claiming a previous ruling from a federal district court in Mendoza’s case already found his appeals meritless.

A clemency request from Mendoza also was denied by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday.

The Supreme Court previously heard another Texas death row inmate’s case in February, as Ruben Guiterrez seeks to be able to sue prosecutors to test DNA on evidence he says will prove his innocence. A ruling is expected in his case in the coming weeks.

If Mendoza’s appeals fail, he would be Texas’ third execution this year. Inmates Steven Nelson and Richard Tabler were put to death in February.

In March, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution for David Wood and a federal appeals court tossed Brittany Holberg’s death sentence because prosecutors did not disclose the primary trial witness was a paid informant.

The judge who presided over the case of death row inmate Melissa Lucio also recommended in 2024 that her sentence and conviction be overturned after the district attorney’s office who prosecuted her admitted they withheld evidence.

Texas currently only has one other execution scheduled. Matthew Johnson, whose execution is set for May 20, was convicted of killing a Garland convenience store employee by setting them on fire. The Supreme Court declined to hear Johnson’s case in 2024.

If no other executions are scheduled and carried out, it will be the seventh year in a row since Texas has executed less than 10 people, a continued slowdown after a record number of executions 20 years ago.

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