The defense team for a death row inmate from Brownsville filed a motion late Thursday night claiming John Allen Rubio is not competent to be executed.
Prosecutors in Cameron County now have 60 days to respond.
The motion lists the mental health history of Rubio, starting from his childhood, including how he experienced hallucinations at a young age.
The filing states many mental health professionals have diagnosed him within the schizophrenia spectrum. It also highlights how he was influenced by his grandmother, who reportedly practiced witchcraft.
As previously reported, Rubio says his children were possessed by demons. He, along with his common-law wife, killed the children in 2003.
The defense team’s filing also says multiple mental health experts believe Rubio was legally insane at the time of the murders.
Rubio’s defense team is arguing that he is entitled to two mental health experts for a final competency hearing.
Investigators say Rubio killed the children because he and his common-law wife didn’t have the money to continue to support them.
The state has 60 days to respond to this motion. The court will then set a hearing for any time after July 1.
Channel 5 News is working on a special report where we hear from those still advocating for Rubio’s three children, Julissa, John, and Mary Jane.
Fifth Circuit Denies Final Appeal for John Allen Rubio, Convicted of Cameron County’s Most Heinous Crime
I, along with the public, urge the courts to move forward with the sentence and put an end to these seemingly endless delays of justice by allowing the State of Texas to carry out the verdict of death by lethal injection that a Cameron County jury rendered on July 29, 2010.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a certificate of appealability for John Allen Rubio, officially ending his final attempt to challenge the denial of federal habeas relief. This ruling reinforces the 2010 capital murder conviction for the brutal decapitation of three children—his own infant daughter and two stepchildren—an act described by the court as “especially harrowing.”
Rubio remains on Texas Death Row, where he has spent more than a decade filing frivolous and dilatory motions to avoid facing the consequences of his actions. With this latest court decision, the criminal justice system has reaffirmed the strength of the original conviction and the legitimacy of the sentence.
Statement by Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz: – “Once again, a court has ruled against re-convicted child murderer John Allen Rubio. The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Rubio was rightfully convicted of capital murder in 2010 and therefore should be executed for his ‘especially harrowing’ crime.
For 15 years, this cowardly defendant has manipulated the criminal justice system with frivolous and dilatory motions to avoid being held accountable for the most brutal and heinous crime in Cameron County history: the brutal murder and decapitation of three (3) innocent babies.
We will continue to seek justice for the innocent victims of this horrible crime and, along with the people of Cameron County, look forward to the day that this monster no longer breathes.”
The murders, committed in March 2003, took place in a condemned home just blocks from the Cameron County Courthouse. Rubio was originally convicted in 2003, but that verdict was overturned. In 2010, he was retried, re-convicted, and sentenced to death. His common-law wife and co-defendant, Angela Camacho, is currently serving a life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 2043.
The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office remains steadfast in its commitment to justice and will continue to honor the memory of the three young victims and support their surviving loved ones.
