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Texas executes man convicted of beheading three children, hours after Oklahoma execution

Oklahoma put James Pavatt, 73, to death earlier Thursday, after his conviction in the 2001 killing of his lover's estranged husband.

7 news outlets reported this
Liberal2 outletsTwo executions set for Thursday, with case backgroundsCenter3 outletsCompleted executions, last statements, and the year's tallyConservative2 outletsRubio's crime and his final words
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

Texas executed John Allen Rubio, 46, by on Thursday, Nov. 12, at the state prison in Huntsville. He was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. Rubio was convicted of stabbing and beheading three young children in Brownsville in 2003, among them his infant daughter. Hours earlier, Oklahoma put James Pavatt, 73, to death by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in McAlester.

Pavatt was convicted in the 2001 fatal shooting of Rob Andrew, the estranged husband of the woman Pavatt was having an affair with. Prosecutors say Pavatt carried out the killing with her. She is Brenda Andrew, the only woman on Oklahoma's death row.

Pavatt has said he was "not guilty of shooting anyone." UPI counts Rubio as the 37th person executed in the US in 2026 and the eighth in Texas. Rubio's first conviction was overturned in 2007 because statements by his girlfriend, Angela Camacho, were wrongly admitted.

He was convicted again in 2010. Camacho and is serving a life sentence. In his last statement, Rubio apologized to his wife's family.

Texas courts rejected his final appeals, and the Texas declined on Nov. 11 to intervene in his lawsuit over the state's pentobarbital supply.

Key figures
  • 37thperson executed in the US in 2026, by UPI's countUPI
  • eighthdeath row inmate Texas executed in 2026, per UPIUPI
  • 12 executionscarried out in 2026 by Texas and Oklahoma together, per NewsweekNewsweek
  • 19executions in Florida in 2026, per NewsweekNewsweek
  • 6:47 p.m.time Rubio was pronounced deadUPI

Three sides of the story

2Liberal3Center2Conservative

7 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal2 outlets

Two executions set for Thursday, with case backgrounds

The Independent (US) runs an AP wire report, also carried by The Seattle Times and the New York Post, written while the two executions were still to come. Its headline pairs the child beheadings in Texas with what it calls a "deadly affair plot" in Oklahoma. The report opens by saying the U.S. was preparing two executions on Thursday, then names Rubio in Huntsville and Pavatt in McAlester.

It sets them in a national frame: the U.S. is on track to pass 40 executions for a second year, driven by Florida, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced he would commute hundreds of death sentences. On Rubio, it gives the overturned first conviction and the dispute between experts, with defense experts diagnosing paranoid schizophrenia and prosecution experts rejecting it. On Pavatt, it quotes his hearing words, "not guilty of shooting anyone," and his statement that he came to see how he had been manipulated by Brenda Andrew.

It closes with prosecutors saying both were equally guilty, no matter who fired.

Center3 outlets

Completed executions, last statements, and the year's tally

UPI leads with the Texas execution and cites the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the 6:47 p.m. time. It calls Rubio the 37th person executed nationwide in 2026, quotes his last statement about God and forgiveness, and traces his final appeals, including a dismissed lawsuit over the state's pentobarbital supply. Newsweek's headline puts both men in one frame, "Texas, Oklahoma Men Executed on the Same Day."

It sets the day against Tennessee's failed attempt on Christa Pike on Sept. 30, Florida's 19 executions and a jailhouse interview in which Rubio said, "we are all sinners." It adds that Pavatt died at 10:12 a.m., that prison officials called the execution "uneventful," and what he ordered for his last meal. The Seattle Times runs the AP wire report written before the executions, with the background on both cases and Newsom's planned clemency.

Conservative2 outlets

Rubio's crime and his final words

The New York Post's headline says the "killer dad" claimed God forgave him, and its first line calls him a "deranged Texas killer." It reports that Rubio began to snore after the injection, then lay still and was declared dead 21 minutes later. It quotes him: "I'm going to be with my kids in a little bit."

It also relays prosecutors' account that he forced Camacho to have sex with him after the killings. An earlier Post piece, headlined "Evil dad," quotes what Rubio told police about his children being possessed. Fox News headlines the same quote, cites the AP, and says the execution "proceeded without incident."

It notes that Pavatt, 73, was put to death hours earlier in Oklahoma. The Post also ran the AP wire report written before the executions.

All sources: 9 articles from 7 outlets

Liberal (2)

Center (3)

Conservative (4)

Related
  1. Fox: Indiana, Florida and Alabama each execute a man on the same day
  2. Texas executes man convicted of beheading three children, hours after Oklahoma executionThis story
Death row and lethal injection

Where prisoners sentenced to death wait, often for years, while their appeals are heard. The death penalty exists in about half the states and under federal law, and lethal injection is the usual method.

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Plea deal

The accused pleads guilty, usually to a lesser charge or for a lighter sentence, and there is no trial. Most criminal cases in the US end this way.

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Supreme Court

The highest US court: nine justices, appointed for life by the president with the Senate's approval. Its rulings bind every other court.

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Clemency and commutation

Mercy a president or governor grants a convicted person. A commutation shortens the sentence but the conviction stands, a pardon forgives the crime, and a reprieve only delays the punishment.

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