Death row inmate Moises Mendoza was executed Wednesday for the murder of a former high school classmate in 2004 becoming the third man executed by Texas this year was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office Mendoza told his loved ones he was at peace and apologized to the family of Rachelle Tolleson “I am sorry for having robbed you of Rachelle's life,” Mendoza said “I know nothing that I could ever say or do would ever make up for that Mendoza confessed to killing 20-year-old Tolleson in a small town outside of Dallas Mendoza took Tolleson from her Farmersville 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 Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis released a statement after the execution memorializing Tolleson and claiming justice was “finally carried out.” “Nothing can undo what Rachelle’s loved ones have endured But justice is not about erasing the past — it’s about honoring the life that was taken,” Willis said in the statement 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 Mendoza’s lawyers subsequently filed for a judicial review of the Texas court’s decision to the U.S and the review and stay were denied Wednesday by the court 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 Gutierrez 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 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 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 Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase Choose an amount or learn more about membership May 2, 2025 | LIFESTYLE + ENTERTAINMENT, UPPER EAST SIDE TEXANS Events Take Place in Farmersville and Greenville for the War Hero and Hollywood Legend Audie Murphy was the most decorated combat soldier of World War II earning the Medal of Honor at just 19 years old in the tiny Kingston community located 10 miles north of Greenville on U.S Murphy died in a plane crash on May 28, 1971. He was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In attendance were Ambassador to the U.N. George H. W. Bush, Army Chief of Staff William Westmoreland A special flagstone walkway was constructed eventually to accommodate the large number of people who visit to pay their respects It is the cemetery’s second most-visited gravesite On June 21 activities are taking place in both Greenville and Farmersville to celebrate Murphy’s 100 Birthday Events for Audie Murphy’s 100th Birthday in Greenville take place on the evening of June 21. A Murphy tribute performer, Duffy Hudson, does a 45 minute show and refreshments are available taking place in Greenville to honor Audie Murphy and other military heroes the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum in Greenville is holding their annual Audie Murphy Day on May 17 host of the popular podcast The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War author of The Dallas Story: The North American Aviation Plant and the Industrial Mobilization during WWII who knew Audie Murphy and is best known for his role in Adam-12 Saturday morning’s events will be held at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center 5501 Business Hwy 69 South and others are at the museum located at 600 Interstate Highway 30 with a small admission fee the bestselling movie Ride Clear of Diablo starring Murphy will be shown at 2 p.m Contact the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum at (903) 450-4502 or visit the website at www.amacmuseum.com for additional information on both events. For overnight lodging, restaurants, and more things to do go to www.TravelGreenvilleTX.com Of other note on Audie Murphy, the National Medal of Honor Museum recently opened to the public in Arlington preserving and sharing the stories of war heroes and personal items including journals is an area dedicated their most decorated recipient The city limits of Farmerville will expand to include a new residential community if the Fagundes Annexation and Subdivision Project is approved The proposed project calls for the city to annex approximately 22 acres of Tulare County land on the south side of Walnut Avenue for a development of at least 96 single family homes The proposal also includes rezoning the property to allow for the new homes “Right now we're planning on probably 1,250 to 1,700-square-foot entry-level homes,” said project developer Ken Turner a partner at Visalia-based CM52 Construction Management who has developed home communities in Porterville estimated that the houses would be built on lots ranging from 6,000 to 7,500 square feet “They will all be either three-bedroom/two-bath or four-bedroom/two-bath,” he said The style of the homes has not been decided yet but he estimated the price range would be from $370,000 to the low $400,000s so it will be first-time homebuyers,” he added If there are no unexpected challenges along the way Turner expects the homes to be ready for sale by late 2025 “This project went to the planning commission last month and it was approved there,” said Karl Schoettler “It's going to be scheduled to go to the city council next then we would take it forward to Tulare LAFCO,” he said “They're the agency that reviews annexation requests from the cities Then it would have to go through review by their staff and a public hearing before their commission The project would provide more housing options for Farmersville “There's also two park areas within that subdivision small neighborhood parks,” Schoettler said “Folks would have more park facilities on that corner of town to be able to utilize.” No details have been decided about the parks “Once we get closer to reviewing all the detailed improvement plans for the subdivision where they're looking at grading and water flow that's when they'll take a look at the design of the parks and the city will tell the developer what they would like to see,” Schoettler said “Most likely it'll be a combination of grass and shade trees “They're too small for ball fields or soccer fields There will probably be some play equipment for the kids The project with almost 100 individual lots would bring in additional tax revenue for Farmersville “Each homeowner would also pay into what's called a landscape and lighting district that the city uses to maintain the walls “The property tax rate would be 1% of the assessed value of the lots,” he continued we won't know that until the whole project is designed and we know what those public improvements and the number of streetlights are going to be “Farmersville hasn't had any new housing in years,” Schoettler said “I know they really look forward to adding to their housing supply They're excited about this and a couple of other projects.” “We just look forward to this development,” Turner said A former Farmersville police sergeant has been charged with embezzlement of funds from the Farmersville Police Department’s explorer program and the Farmersville Police Officer’s Association who served both organizations as adviser and treasurer is alleged to have taken approximately $35,000 between 2018 and 2023 by using digital transfers to his personal account Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward announced in a press release that two counts felony grand theft by embezzlement and two counts of felony grand theft were filed against Vasquez on Dec Vasquez surrendered himself to DA criminal investigators on Nov 11 and was booked into the Tulare County Pretrial Facility The investigation started in August 2023 when Farmersville Police Chief Jay Brock contacted the DA's office with his suspicions The DA’s Office Bureau of Investigations Forensic Fraud Unit started interviewing current and former city employees and executed several search warrants for bank statements DA officials and Farmersville Police Department declined to comment An internet search shows Rafael Vasquez-Perez, Jr. as being involved with charities. According to his LinkedIn page he was a Road to Recovery volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society I take cancer patients to and from their homes to their appointments,” he posted Southern California: Raw milk possibly linked to cat deaths from bird flu "Everyone has been affected by cancer," Vasquez said in the article especially from females who come up and thank us."  The website transparentcalifornia.com lists him as having the sixth highest salary among government employees in Farmersville in 2022 with total pay and benefits totaling $165,019.42 Moises Sandoval Mendoza a rapist and killer described by one prosecutor as one of the most "violent is set to be executed in Texas on Wednesday Tolleson was a new mother to her 6-month-old daughter Avery "I don’t think we’ll ever heal. I don’t think a mother ever truly heals from the loss of a child,” Tolleson's mother, Pam O’Neil, told The Courier-Gazette in 2005 "I can’t believe my grandbaby will grow up without a mother." O'Neil added that she and Avery frequently watched home videos of Tolleson including Avery's first and only Christmas with her mother and looked through scrapbooks that Tolleson and O'Neil made together Over the years, Mendoza's case has gained a sort of notoriety. In 2006, it was featured in the 10th season of "Forensic Files" and in 2008, the Investigation Discovery series "Solved" highlighted Tolleson's murder Here's what to know about Mendoza's execution 'I turned into the devil': More about Texas death row inmate Moises Mendoza Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson was at home with her 6-month-old daughter Avery in Farmersville a small town about 40 miles northeast of Dallas as Rachelle was in the middle of a divorce with her then-husband Andrew Tolleson Mendoza told police he let himself inside Tolleson's house through a back door that night Mendoza drove a little while before he began to choke Tolleson in his vehicle "for no reason," he said He then drove the two to a field near his house where he raped her before choking her again Mendoza then dragged Tolleson out of his truck and choked her again until he thought she was dead where it remained for a few days before he was interviewed by police about Tolleson's disappearance Paranoid, Mendoza wrapped Tolleson's body in a tarp and moved it to his cousin's land in a more remote area, just a few miles east of Farmersville. He then dumped the body in a "dug-out pit" and set it on fire to "destroy the fingerprints," he told police, The Courier Gazette reports "I don't know what happened to me at that moment. I turned into the devil and after I did something that I thought was in a dream," Mendoza wrote in a letter to his parents, as published by The Courier-Gazette A man searching for arrowheads found Tolleson's charred body a few days after Mendoza moved it Mendoza was convicted of murder and sentenced to death described their daughter as a doting mother to Avery according to court proceedings and archived stories The O'Neils did not immediately respond to requests to speak about their late daughter but Mark has recognized Tolleson in several public Facebook posts over the years Mark shared a photo of Tolleson from her wedding day on Facebook "Happy birthday to my beautiful daughter in heaven," he wrote Neighbors described Mendoza as "hard-working" but said he changed as he got older, recounting a "violent argument" when he pinned down his mother and sister in their front yard, as previously reported by The Courier-Gazette where he did "fairly well," court documents state He received a few high school scholarships and completed about nine months of heating and air-conditioning training upon graduating In 2003, Mendoza was arrested for his involvement in two aggravated robberies on the Dallas College Richland Campus, according to The Courier-Gazette reporting It was while he was out on bail for one of these robberies that Tolleson went missing the 2006 "Forensic Files" episode explains For much of their upbringing in northern Texas, Mendoza and Tolleson were actually in the same grade school classes, Tolleson's mother explained in "Forensic Files." And the Friday before Tolleson's murder Mendoza had been at Tolleson's house for a party of about 15 people Clinical psychologist Mark Vigen described Mendoza as "immature" and "psychologically under-developed," claiming that Mendoza enjoyed getting away with "being sneaky" and got angry when others criticized him former Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis described Mendoza as "one of the most violent Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Krum wide receiver Lane Larson punches the air in celebration after an interception against Farmersville on Friday celebrates after tackling the Farmersville quarterback Krum quarterback Ty Taber (7) tumbles into the end zone to score a touchdown against Farmersville on Friday in Krum Krum wide receiver Elijah Guerrero makes a catch downfield before running the ball into the end zone against Farmersville Krum football coach Chuck Caniford challenged his team to fight after it trailed 17-7 at halftime against Farmersville The Bobcats did just that as they rallied to take a crucial 34-27 win that could loom large in District 5-4A DII's playoff race If you're not already a Denton Record-Chronicle subscriber, you can subscribe now for just $1 a month over the next six months and read all of our stories throughout high school football season KRUM — Krum head football coach Chuck Caniford told his team he wanted to see some fight in the second half of Friday’s game against Farmersville at Bobcat Stadium The Bobcats rallied from a 17-7 halftime deficit to beat the Farmers 34-27 in a crucial District 5-4A DII game “I’m just really proud of our kids,” Caniford said “There were so many big moments tonight that our kids stepped up when they needed to Krum moved its district record to 3-2 and 7-2 overall The pair are among four teams now tied for second place in the district at 3-2 along with Caddo Mills (6-3 One of those teams will ultimately miss the playoffs though the Bobcats have positioned themselves to clinch no worse than a third-place finish with a win next Friday at Bonham (1-8 Krum trimmed a 10-point deficit to three with 6:38 left in the third quarter after quarterback Ty Taber connected with wide receiver Elijah Guerrero on a 63-yard touchdown pass to trail 17-14 After a Farmersville field goal put the Farmers up 20-14 Taber scored on a 10-yard run with 23 seconds left in the third to draw his team even at 20 which kept the game tied heading into the final quarter The Farmers responded with a touchdown on their next possession — a 22-yard pass from quarterback Levi McAbee to Drake Grimes — to move ahead 27-20 But Krum scored on its next possession on a Taber 32-yard pass to wide receiver Andyn Garza A blocked extra point left the score at 27-26 The Farmers fumbled on the ensuing kickoff The Bobcats needed just two plays to score with Taber running in from 17 yards out to put his team ahead 32-27 He also scored the 2-point conversion to leave Krum up 34-27 with 7:03 left The Farmers drove to the Bobcat 21 but could not convert on a fourth-down play — an interception — and the Bobcats took over with 4:25 left and were able to run out the clock Caniford thought his team played well defensively most of the night to stay in the game including forcing the Farmers to kick some field goals “We made some adjustments at halftime and kind of simplified things and got after it,” he said about his offense Krum struck first early in the second when Taber ran a keeper in from 9 yards out to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead Krum had a chance to score late in the first but Taber’s pass was incomplete on a fake field goal attempt from the Farmer 12 71-yard drive that ended with an Amare Warren 6-yard TD run on a play in which he took the snap from center The game was tied at 7-all with 5:52 left in the half and the Farmers drove from their own 38 to the Bobcat 18 where kicker Christian Aguilar kicked a 35-field goal with 2:28 left to put Farmersville up 10-7 Disaster struck on the Bobcats’ next series as Taber fumbled when scrambling from pressure The Farmers recovered at the Krum 34 and scored on their first play when Grimes caught a halfback pass from McAbee and then passed to a wide-open Warren for a touchdown Farmersville took that 17-7 lead into halftime Caniford expects Bonham to “throw everything they got at us” when they meet next week then we’re in a situation where if win out we don’t finish any lower than third,” he said “So that puts us in a good spot moving forward And I feel like we’re getting healthy again and we’re kind of back to playing the way we played earlier in the year.” Get the scoop on all the thrilling victories nail-biting games and standout performances — straight from the sidelines of Denton-area high schools Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Your essential companion for starting the day in Denton Delivered fresh to your inbox every morning Wake Up gives you a curated snapshot of local news for the day as well as the day’s e-edition and trending stories you may have missed Sign up for the Denton Record-Chronicle's absolutely free weekly newsletter highlighting winners and finalists from the 2024 Best of Denton awards Your weekly guide to surviving college and thriving in Denton local news and more exclusive content in your inbox every Tuesday afternoon There's always something going on in Denton Check out what's on the local events calendar and plan a fun weekend with friends Get a roundup of the 10+ puzzles and games available from the Denton Record-Chronicle for free Sudoku and other brain-busters are new every day the latest in puzzles and word games with a Wordle vibe From minor traffic accidents to neighborhood watch updates stay informed on public safety with the week’s top crime stories in your inbox every Wednesday morning Don’t miss out on breaking news in Denton from weather and traffic to big events and important headlines Be the first to know the latest on new stores restaurants and other businesses in Denton County so you can live better here we bring you the highlights and updates from our hometown college teams Prepare for the polls and stay informed on the candidates issues and deadlines for Denton County’s key races Save money and find what you need with promotions from local businesses and special DRC offers Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Calif (FOX26) — Three men and three juveniles were arrested on Thursday in connection with the assault and murder of a Farmerville man Deputies responded to the 29100 block of Road 166 in Farmersville around 1 a.m The call was for a man lying on the ground and bleeding When deputies got to the location they found 25-year-old Angel Puga of Farmersville suffering from blunt-force trauma and a gunshot wound Puga died from his injuries before he could be taken to a hospital detectives learned that Puga was at a large Halloween party when he was trying to leave and was confronted by a group of gang members TCSO says the gang members began beating Puga and then shot him Everyone ran away from the party after Puga was shot An autopsy determined that Puga died from the gunshots but also said he would have died from the injuries he suffered during the beating even if he had not been shot Detectives identified six individuals responsible After numerous search warrants were served TCSO SWAT along with Visalia PD KCSO SWAT and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office made the arrests a 17-year-old boy and two 16-year-old boys were arrested The adult men were taken into custody and booked into the TCSO South County Detention Facility The juvenile suspects were booked into the Juvenile Detention Facility for homicide By Chase RogersStaff Writer is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection this April 23 sometime after 6 p.m District Judge George Flint signed the order Nov 14 after prosecutors sought an execution warrant arguing that Mendoza had “exhausted his principal avenues” of appeal through state and federal courts in the years since his conviction Whether Mendoza has an attorney in Texas was not immediately clear Tuesday. A Tyler attorney listed as his attorney said he no longer represented him. A California attorney listed did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Collin County district attorney’s office citing a possibility for future litigation Breaking NewsGet the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond GoogleFacebookBy signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy It was uncontested during Mendoza’s trial that he had killed Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson He was charged with carrying out Tolleson’s murder during a kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault — two crimes the jury also found he committed Tolleson — a 20-year-old mother — was reported missing Her 5-month-old daughter was found alone in their Farmersville home with furniture and papers out of place and the headboard broken A responding Farmersville police officer likened the state of the bedroom to the aftermath of a tornado IN THE KNOW: Man convicted of killing, dismembering 3 sentenced to death Mendoza was quickly identified as a suspect Mendoza and Tolleson had attended a house party and were seen talking Tolleson later told a friend she had no interest in Mendoza Tolleson willingly left her child alone to join him outside in his pickup where he choked her before taking her to a field He said they had sex before he choked her again; then he “poked her throat” with a knife to “assure her death.” Mendoza initially left the body in the field he moved it to a more remote location — a creek bed about 3 miles east of town near the Hunt County line — and set it on fire He piled on vegetation in an attempt to hide the body Search parties were unsuccessful in finding Tolleson a man combing the creek bed for arrowheads discovered her burned body The Dallas Morning News reported at the time The body was later identified as Tolleson’s through the use of dental records Court records show that after his conviction Mendoza’s attorneys unsuccessfully sought relief through a series of appeals that his trial and initial post-conviction counsel were ineffective to such a degree that it violated his constitutional rights — arguments the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and federal courts rejected who represented Mendoza during his trial but has not been involved in the case since declined to comment on the scheduling of the execution date a Collin County grand jury handed up another indictment on six counts of sexual assault of a child younger than 17 years of age prosecutors dismissed the sexual assault charges after he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death he would have spent 19 years on death row — about eight years longer than the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s reported average of 11 years He grew up in Granbury and studied journalism at Texas State University in San Marcos he reported for the Austin American-Statesman and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times He can be reached at 361-239-6527 and Signal at crogers.95.