The convict of Latin origin Ramiro Gonzales, whose execution is scheduled for July 13 in a Texas prison, asked that his sentence be delayed so that he can donate a kidney, reported The universal.
Gonzales, 39, will receive the lethal injection in two weeks for murder 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, of Southwest Texas, whose remains were found almost two years after his disappearance in 2001.
The current death row inmate was also 18 years old at the time he murdered, kidnapped and sexually assaulted the teenager before shooting her. He has been in prison since 2006.
your lawyers Thea Posel y Raoul Schonemann sent a letter last Wednesday to the governor of Texas, the Republican Greg Abbott, in which they asked for a 30-day postponement so that the inmate can be considered a living donor “for someone who urgently needs a kidney transplant.”
They also separately petitioned the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a 180-day reprieve related to the kidney donation.
The lawyers added to the documents presented, a letter from the singer Michael Zoosmanan ordained Jewish clergyman from Maryland who has corresponded with the inmate.
“I have no doubt that Ramiro’s desire to be an altruistic kidney donor is not motivated by a last-minute attempt to stop or delay his execution. I will go to my grave believing in my heart that this is something Ramiro wants to do to help his soul be right with his God,” Zoosman wrote.
A transplant team from the University of Texas at Galveston determined that Gonzales is an “excellent candidate” for a kidney donation because of his rare blood type.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is scheduled to vote on the request on July 11.
Already at the beginning of this year, Gonzales was considered ineligible after requesting authorization to be a donor.
Gonzales’ demand to delay his execution to donate organs is rare among those on death row in the United States, he noted. Robert Dunham, executive director of Information Center on the Death Penalty.
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