Texas on Wednesday executed an inmate sentenced to death after being convicted of killing a 12-year-old boy and drinking his victim’s blood, authorities said.
Pablo Lucio Vasquez, 38, was executed at a Huntsville prison and pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. local time (7:35 p.m. ET), Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Robert Hurst said.
Vasquez, nicknamed the “vampire" killer, was convicted of the 1998 murder of David Cardenas. He bludgeoned the child, slit his throat, tried to remove his head and consumed his blood, authorities said.
Asked if he had any last words Wednesday, Vasquez apologized to four of Cardenas’ relatives present for the execution, according to The Associated Press.
“This is the only way that I can be forgiven,” Vasquez said. “You got your justice right here."
Vaquez said he was feeling dizzy as the drugs were injected, and said “see you on the other side,” while looking at two of his sisters and a brother-in-law and cousin, according to the AP. He was pronounced dead 24 minutes later.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a stay of execution. His attorneys had argued that he should get a reprieve because jurors who were against the death penalty were excluded from his trial. In other appeals, Vasquez has argued that he was mentally ill.
The execution was the sixth in Texas this year and the 11th nationwide.
