Mexican national on death row for killing 3 El Paso teens dies of cardiac arrest

A Mexican national who spent more than two decades on Texas’ death row for the slayings of three El Paso teenagers has died in prison.

A Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman said that 49-year-old Ignacio Gomez died of cardiac arrest at an East Texas hospital shortly after being found unresponsive in his cell this past weekend.

Gomez was convicted in the 1996 shooting deaths of the three teens, who he blamed for vandalizing his mother’s house in El Paso.

He buried the bodies of 16-year-old twin brothers Michael and Matthew Meredith and 19-year-old Toby Hathaway the far east desert off Montana Street, but confessed to police after his arrest.

At the time of his death in prison, an execution date had not been set. Gomez’s lawyer said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and found not competent to be put to death.

Gomez had unsuccessfully challenged his conviction, claiming police never told him he had the right to legal assistance from the Mexican consulate. The consulate hasn’t commented on his death.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)