Execution Report: Humberto Leal

Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., 38, was executed by lethal injection on 7 July 2011 in Huntsville, Texas for the abduction, rape, and murder of a 16-year-old girl.

On 20 May 1994, Leal, then 21, was at an outdoor Friday night party in San Antonio. Adria Sauceda was also at the party. According to witnesses, Sauceda was intoxicated and partially undressed, and was in the middle of a circle of men who were taking turns having sex with her. One man carried her to his truck and, according to a witness, "had his way with her". At some point, Leal told witnesses he was a friend of Sauceda's parents and offered to take her home. The girl - conscious but disoriented - was placed into Leal's vehicle, and Leal drove away.

About thirty minutes later, Leal's brother arrived at the party and excitedly yelled that Leal had come home with blood on him and said he had killed a girl. Several of the party attendees went looking for Sauceda. They called police after they found her nude body on a dirt road. They observed that the victim's head was bashed in, bleeding, and that it was flinching or jerking.

The victim had been raped with a broken stick of lumber about 14 to 16 inches long, which was still protruding from her vagina. There was a gaping hole in her head from the corner of her right eye to the center of her head, and blood was oozing from the hole. There was a bloody rock by the victim's right thigh. Her left arm was under a chunk of asphalt weighing 30 to 40 pounds.

When questioned by police, Leal had scratches and cuts on his body. He stated that he was with Sauceda in his car when she began hitting him and the steering wheel, causing him to hit a curb. He tried to calm her down, but she leaped from the car and ran away. After waiting about ten to fifteen minutes to see if she would return, he went home.

After the police informed Leal that his brother had also given a statement, Leal gave another statement. This time, Leal claimed that he followed Sauceda after she jumped out of the car. She attacked him, and he pushed her away. She fell on the ground and did not get up. Leal attempted to wake her, but could not. When he saw bubbles coming out of her nose, he got scared and left. He said he went home, prayed, and told family members what had happened.

Police searched Leal's house and found a blouse belonging to Sauceda that had blood stains and hair on it. Police also found traces of blood on the passenger door and seat of Leal's car, from blood stains that had been wiped off.

At Leal's trial, the medical examiner testified that Sauceda died from blows to the head. She also had signs of manual strangulation on her neck, and three bite marks matching Leal's dental impressions on her body. He further testified that the victim received some of her injuries while standing up. She received her head injuries while lying flat on her back, with the assailant standing over her.

Leal testified that as he was driving Sauceda from the party, she directed him which way to go, but he turned in the opposite direction. She attempted to get out of the car, but he refused to allow her to do so. When she finally did manage to get out, he attempted to pull her back, but she began hitting, pushing, and scratching his face. At that point, he pushed her. He then felt something wet on the back of her head, shook her in an attempt to wake her, and then fled in fear when he saw bubbles coming out of her nose.

Leal had no prior prison record, but he had been accused of another rape occurring two weeks before Sauceda's murder. In that incident, Leal raped another teenage girl and bit her on the neck. He then repeatedly telephoned the victim's older sister and threatened to have her killed if she testified against him.

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