By Doug Miller
KHOU.com
HOUSTON — Randy Ertman doesn’t care much for talking to reporters anymore, but now he figures he doesn’t have much choice.
“I want this man to spend the rest of his life in prison,” he said, then he corrects himself. “I’m sorry I said ‘man.’ I want that piece of crap to die in prison. And I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure he stays in prison.”
Ertman’s face may not be familiar, but a photograph of his smiling 14-year-old daughter seared itself into the memories of a generation of Houstonians. Jennifer Ertman and her friend Elizabeth Pena were savagely gang-raped and murdered in an hour-long horror that unfolded one night in a northwest Houston park.
The crime stunned the city, especially after trials revealed agonizing details of how the girls suffered and begged for mercy during the last hour of their lives. Almost as disturbing as the crime itself was the feral and remorseless behavior of the gang members, who boasted to friends and relatives about the girls’ blood on their clothes. Even after their arrests, they cursed and kicked as police detectives walked them into the courthouse.
Full story: ‘Die in prison': Texas dad fights parole for daughter’s accused killer, rapist