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John Rubio Execution: What We Know

By the Undercurrent desk · Published · Updated

Video · 3:06 · Watch on YouTube

Updated

Texas executed John Allen Rubio

John Allen Rubio was executed by lethal injection on Thursday evening, Nov. 12, 2026, at the Huntsville Unit in Texas, ValleyCentral and MyRGV report; the Cameron County district attorney confirmed it. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had denied his last stay on Nov. 5.

Sources: ValleyCentral; MyRGV; Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, WR-65,784-06

Watch the videoAll sources

John Allen Rubio is scheduled to be executed Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, at the Huntsville Unit in Texas. He was sentenced to death twice for the March 2003 deaths of three young children in Brownsville. His insanity defense was rejected, a judge ruled in October that he is competent to be executed, and on Nov. 5 Texas's highest criminal court dismissed his last writ and denied a stay. As of Monday, Nov. 9, no other filing was pending on the court's docket.

What's confirmed

  1. March 11, 2003, Brownsville (Cameron County)three children, ages 3, 1 and 2 months, were found dead in an apartment. They were the children of Rubio's common-law wife, Angela Camacho. (Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice; KRGV; Fox 26 Houston)
  2. Texas prison records say the children were stabbed and beheaded. (TDCJ)
  3. Rubio has said since his arrest that he believed the children were possessed. (KRGV; Fox 26 Houston; AP)
  4. Camacho took a plea deal in 2005 and is serving life in prison. (TDCJ; KRGV; Fox 26 Houston)
  5. November 2003a Cameron County jury convicted Rubio and he was sentenced to death. (KRGV; Tex. Crim. App. AP-76,383)
  6. 2007the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction: Camacho's statements had been used against him, and his lawyers never got to question her. (Tex. Crim. App. AP-74,852; KRGV)
  7. 2010the retrial was moved to Hidalgo County. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; his lawyers' experts testified he had paranoid schizophrenia. The jury rejected the defense, and he was sentenced to death again. (Tex. Crim. App. AP-76,383; AP; TCADP)
  8. Oct. 10, 2012the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the 2010 conviction and death sentence. Later state and federal appeals failed. (AP-76,383; KRGV)
  9. February 2026a judge set the Nov. 12 execution date. (KRGV; TDCJ)
  10. April 2026his lawyers argued he is not mentally competent to be executed. In October, a state district judge found him competent. (KRGV; Fox 26 Houston)
  11. Oct. 28, 2026his lawyers filed a new writ and asked for a stay, alleging that at the 2010 trial "the State elicited and failed to correct false testimony" from its "only mental health expert." Cameron County prosecutors opposed a delay. (Motion for stay, Tex. Crim. App. WR-65,784-06; KRGV)
  12. Nov. 5, 2026the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the writ and "denied without written order the motion for stay of execution." (WR-65,784-06 notice and docket)

What we don't know

  • Whether his lawyers will file anything else before Thursday, or whether any court will step in. As of Nov. 9, nothing new was on the docket.
  • Clemency: no action by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had been reported as of Nov. 9.
  • The execution time: Texas executions are customarily set for 6 p.m. CT; we'll confirm on the day.

What happens next

Chapters

  1. 0:00John Allen Rubio execution: what we know
  2. 0:19John Allen Rubio case: Brownsville, 2003
  3. 0:54John Allen Rubio's two trials and insanity plea
  4. 1:56Rubio's last claim: the stay motion
  5. 2:30John Allen Rubio execution: where it stands

Sources

  1. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Ex parte Rubio, WR-65,784-06 (motion for stay, Oct. 28, 2026; notice, Nov. 5, 2026) Primary recordsearch.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=WR-65,784-06&coa=coscca
  2. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Rubio v. State, AP-76,383 (Oct. 10, 2012) and AP-74,852 (Sept. 12, 2007) Primary recordsearch.txcourts.gov
  3. Texas Department of Criminal Justice, scheduled executions Primary recordtdcj.texas.gov/death_row/scheduled_executions.html
  4. KRGV, "Echoes across 23 years: The legal timeline" (May 21, 2026) Reportingkrgv.com/news/echoes-across-23-years-the-legal-timeline-of-the-rubio-murders
  5. KRGV, competency motion (May 5, 2026) Reportingkrgv.com/news/lawyers-for-brownsville-man-on-death-row-claim-his-delusions-make-him-incompetent-for-execution
  6. Fox 26 Houston (Nov. 9, 2026); AP; Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; Death Penalty Information Center

The record · as of Nov. 12, 2026

How we know

Primary records are court and agency documents; reporting is news coverage we checked against them. How we report.

What happens next

We check these records for changes: Tex. CCA docket WR-65,784-06; TDCJ scheduled executions.

Verified timeline

  1. 2003-03-11Brownsville (Cameron County), Texas: three children, ages 3, 14 months and 2 months, were killed in an apartment. Texas prison records say they were 'fatally stabbed and beheaded' (state cause, stated once, attributed). Rubio and the children's mother, his common-law wife Angela Camacho, were later both convicted.TDCJ inmate record #999462; CCA AP-74,852 (2007) + AP-76,383 (2012) opinions; KRGV timeline (May 21, 2026); Wikipedia
  2. 2003-03-11Discovery: per the CCA's 2018 habeas opinion (quoted in Texas's 2025 SCOTUS brief), Rubio's brother and a friend arrived, saw a child's body, and flagged down a passing police officer, who entered the apartment.Texas brief in opposition 25-5706 quoting Ex parte Rubio, WR-65,784-02/-04 (CCA May 23, 2018); Wikipedia
  3. 2003-03-11Rubio was taken to the Brownsville police station and questioned the same day; per the CCA he confessed and said he believed the children were possessed. He gave a second, videotaped statement March 13, 2003.CCA AP-76,383 opinion (2012); Texas SCOTUS brief (quoting CCA 2018); KRGV ('has claimed since his 2003 arrest')
  4. 2003-11First trial (Cameron County, 138th District Court, 03-CR-457): jury convicted Rubio of capital murder and he was sentenced to death. Wikipedia gives verdict Nov. 7 and sentence Nov. 8, 2003.CCA AP-76,383 ('convicted in November 2003'); KRGV timeline; Texas SCOTUS brief ('first convicted and sentenced to death in 2003'); Wikipedia
  5. 2005-06Camacho pleaded guilty in a deal that took the death penalty off the table; she received three life sentences.KRGV timeline (June 2005, three life sentences); Wikipedia (June 29, 2005, concurrent); FOX 4 (consecutive)
  6. 2007-09-12Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Rubio's 2003 conviction 5-4 (Womack, J.; Keller, Keasler, Hervey, Meyers dissenting): Camacho's out-of-court statements were wrongly admitted; she did not testify, so the defense could not cross-examine her (Confrontation Clause).CCA opinion AP-74,852 (primary, on disk); Texas SCOTUS brief (241 S.W.3d 1); KRGV timeline; Wikipedia; ABC13 archive
  7. 2010-07-26Retrial, moved to Hidalgo County: Rubio pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; his experts diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia; the jury rejected insanity and convicted him of capital murder (four counts).Rubio cert petition 25-5706 (July 26, 2010); CCA AP-76,383 (experts' opinion); KRGV timeline (Hidalgo County, insanity plea); Wikipedia
  8. 2012-10-10CCA affirmed the 2010 conviction and death sentence on direct appeal (AP-76,383, unanimous, unpublished).CCA opinion AP-76,383 (primary, on disk); Texas SCOTUS brief; Wikipedia
  9. 2013U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on the direct appeal (571 U.S. 852). Exact day not verified.Texas SCOTUS brief (cert. denied 571 U.S. 852 (2013)); KRGV timeline ('2013')
  10. 2013-10-11Rubio filed his first state habeas application (evidentiary hearing Aug. 2016; trial judge recommended denial April 2017).Rubio cert petition (Oct. 11, 2013); 5th Cir. opinion 24-70004 (October 2013, Aug. 2016, April 2017)
  11. 2018-05-23CCA denied state habeas relief (WR-65,784-02) and dismissed a supplemental application as an abuse of the writ (-04).Texas SCOTUS brief + cert petition (2018 WL 2329302, May 23, 2018); AP via NBC Montana (May 23, 2018); Wikipedia
  12. 2019-09-04Federal habeas petition filed (amended Feb. 18, 2020); federal case later stayed so he could return to state court.Rubio cert petition; 5th Cir. opinion 24-70004 (Sept. 2019); Texas SCOTUS brief
  13. 2022-01-26CCA dismissed a subsequent state application (WR-65,784-05, filed July 23, 2021) as an abuse of the writ without reaching the merits.Texas SCOTUS brief (Jan. 26, 2022); Rubio cert petition (filed July 23, 2021); Wikipedia (Jan. 28)
  14. 2024-04-05Federal district court denied habeas relief and a certificate of appealability (97-page opinion). Wikipedia says April 13, 2024 (wrong per the court record).Rubio cert petition (April 5, 2024 order, App. B); Texas SCOTUS brief (97-page opinion); Wikipedia (April 13)
  15. 2025-05-21Fifth Circuit denied a certificate of appealability (Rubio v. Guerrero, No. 24-70004, per curiam, unpublished). Wikipedia says May 23 (wrong per the filed opinion).5th Cir. opinion PDF (FILED May 21, 2025); Rubio cert petition; KRGV (May 2025, DA release); Wikipedia (May 23)
  16. 2025-09-18Rubio petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari (No. 25-5706) after a 30-day extension granted by Justice Alito; Texas filed its opposition Nov. 20, 2025.Cert petition + brief in opposition (primary, on disk); SCOTUS docket 25-5706; KRGV ('In September')
  17. 2026-01-12U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari (25-5706), ending the federal habeas round.SCOTUS docket 25-5706 ('Petition DENIED'); KRGV (DA statement); Wikipedia
  18. 2026-02Execution date set for Nov. 12, 2026 (state requested a November date).KRGV (Feb. 25, 2026); KRGV timeline ('February 2026'); Wikipedia (Feb. 26)
  19. 2026-10-07A state district judge ruled Rubio competent to be executed.FOX 4 (Nov. 9, 2026: 'In October'); KRGV (Nov. 6: judge found him competent after psychiatric evaluations); Wikipedia (Oct. 7)
  20. 2026-10-28CCA docket logs the stay motion received Oct. 29, the writ Nov. 2. Prosecutors opposed, arguing a similar claim was dismissed in 2022.Stay motion PDF (dated Oct. 28, 2026); CCA docket WR-65,784-06; KRGV (Nov. 6); ValleyCentral headline (DA argues against motion)
  21. 2026-11-05Texas CCA dismissed the subsequent writ (with written order) and 'denied without written order the motion for stay of execution' (WR-65,784-06).CCA docket + notice PDF (primary); KRGV (Nov. 6); FOX 4 (Nov. 9); ValleyCentral; Wikipedia (Nov. 6)
  22. 2026-11-09As of Monday Nov. 9 no further court filing or stay found; FOX 4: 'It remains to be seen whether Rubio's defense team will file any last-minute appeals with federal courts.' No clemency action reported.CCA docket (nothing after 11/05); TDCJ scheduled list; FOX 4 (Nov. 9)
  23. 2026-11-12SCHEDULED (not yet happened): execution by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas. Rubio is held on death row at the Polunsky Unit, Livingston. Clock time not verified (Texas custom 6 p.m. CT).TDCJ scheduled executions (11/12/2026, #999462, Cameron County); stay motion PDF; FOX 4 (Huntsville Unit, lethal injection); KRGV

Also in our research file

Updates and corrections

  • UPDATE (Nov. 12, 2026): Texas executed John Allen Rubio. John Allen Rubio was executed by lethal injection on Thursday evening, Nov. 12, 2026, at the Huntsville Unit in Texas, ValleyCentral and MyRGV report; the Cameron County district attorney confirmed it. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had denied his last stay on Nov. 5. (ValleyCentral; MyRGV; Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, WR-65,784-06)

Photos: Huntsville "Walls" Unit by Mark Britain (CC BY-SA 2.0); Hidalgo County Courthouse by Danny20111993 (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons; Polunsky Unit and record photo: Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice. Map: U.S. Census TIGER.

Undercurrent takes no position on the death penalty, on Rubio's mental health or on clemency.

Spot an error? Email corrections@undercurrentdaily.com. See our corrections policy. Have information about this case? Contact the investigating agency first.

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