Texas has executed a Mexican Mafia hit man convicted of beating and strangling a San Antonio woman because she didn't pay the gang's 10 percent tax on her illegal drug sales.
The injection of 46-year-old Manuel Vasquez with a lethal dose of pentobarbital Wednesday evening leaves Texas with enough of the powerful sedative to carry out only one more execution. At least six Texas prisoners are scheduled to die in the coming weeks, as Texas and other states have had difficulty obtaining drugs for executions. Some states are considering other methods.
Vasquez was sentenced to death for carrying out the gang-ordered killing of 51-year-old Juanita Ybarra in 1998. Trial testimony showed Ybarra had ignored the gang's "dime" drug tax, so Vasquez and two partners were directed to kill her.