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Death row inmate's mother calls ruling a blessing from God

Opponents of death penalty praise Supreme Court's decision to spare juveniles

RESOURCES

• The decision: Read the Supreme Court's full ruling • Excerpts: From the court's opinion and dissent • Harris County: 11 juvenile offenders on death row here • Summaries of cases: A look at some of the nation's murders by juveniles • Major rulings: Other death penalty decisions by the Supreme Court TELL US WHAT YOU THINK • Give us your opinion on Tuesday's decision

The mother of the last Harris County juvenile sentenced to Texas' death row said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to ban the execution of people younger than 18 would not have been possible without a blessing from God.

Barbara Acuna, mother of death-row inmate Robert Acuna, joined other death penalty opponents at a news conference Wednesday to offer support for the court's decision.

"It was a very brave move by the U.S. Supreme Court to do this," Acuna said.

The court ruled 5-4 that the execution of inmates convicted of murders committed when they were 17 or younger violates the Eighth Amendment. The decision spares the lives of about 70 juvenile murderers on death rows nationwide.

Robert Acuna, 19, of Baytown, was 17 in November 2003, when he killed neighbor James Carroll, 75, and his wife, Joyce, 74.

He was convicted and sentenced to death last August.

Also at the news conference at the Shape Community Center in Houston's Third Ward were members of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement.

The group's Gloria Rubac said her daughter's fiancée was murdered recently, but she opposes the government responding by executing the killer as punishment.

"I was looking forward to having lots of grandchildren, and now this man is dead. I was angry, and I could have, if I had gotten a hold of the person, done something with my bare hands," she said. "That's a normal reaction, but our government should not be allowed to react like that."

Deloyd Parker, executive director of the SHAPE Community Center, said the death penalty must be abolished.

"The question I always ask people is, 'How many innocent people have been executed to this day?' " he said. "We will never, never know."

Rubac discounted some assertions that teens should be punished like adults.

"Some of them are horrific (crimes) ... but any of us who raised teenagers ... knows that kids are not as capable as adults at making decisions; therefore, they shouldn't be held as accountable," Rubac said.

robert.crowe@chron.com

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