Execution set for Mexican national on Texas death row

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A Mexican national on Texas death row for the rape-slaying of his 16-year-old cousin in the Rio Grande Valley more than 20 years ago has received an execution date.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark says the agency has received court documents setting the lethal injection of 47-year-old Ruben Ramirez Cardenas for Nov. 8.

Cardenas was convicted of the February 1997 slaying of Mayra Laguna. Her body was found dumped in a canal near Edinburg, about 10 miles (16 kilometres) northeast of McAllen where she was abducted from her home. Evidence showed he slipped through a window, bound her with duct tape and drove her away. Evidence showed she was raped, beaten and strangled.

Prison records list Cardenas as originally from Guanajuato in central Mexico.