By Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times
EL PASO — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by death-row inmate Rigoberto Avila Jr. of El Paso, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s baby nearly 10 years ago.
Avila was one of three Texas death-row inmates whose petitions were denied Monday by the nation’s highest court.
Avila, now 37, was sentenced to die by an El Paso jury that found him guilty in the death of 19-month-old Nicolas Macias who was fatally beaten while Avila was baby-sitting two of his girlfriend’s children on Feb. 29, 2000.
During the 2001 trial, prosecutors said Avila repeatedly kicked and stomped Nicolas, causing injuries so severe that the boy’s organs were ripped away from his spine.
Part of the evidence was a statement given to police were Avila admitted stomping on Nicolas because he was jealous of the attention the mother was giving him.
District Attorney Jaime Esparza could not be reached for comment Monday.
Avila’s lawyer Robin Norris said he tried to get the Supreme Court to review the case, arguing the jury never heard testimony from a pediatric pathologist who said the death was caused by a single blow to the abdomen instead of a repeated beating.
“Mr. Avila continues to insist he is entirely innocent of this,” Norris said.
Norris described Avila as a model citizen who did not have a prior criminal record. He had been a baseball player at Hanks High School and served in the U.S. military during Desert Storm.
“It’s a great tragedy for everybody, especially for Nicolas Macias,” said Norris, who will attempt to get the governor to commute Avila’s sentence to life in prison. “Nobody is asking that Mr. Avila be excused from responsibility for this.”
The Associated Press reported the Supreme Court also refused to review the case of Gerald Cornelius Eldridge, 45, facing execution Nov. 17 for the fatal shootings of his former girlfriend and her daughter in Houston almost 17 years ago, and the case of 40-year-old John Balentine, condemned for the slaying of three teenagers in Amarillo almost 12 years ago.
Copyright 2009 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper