John Allen Rubio cries; jury still deliberating punishment

A deathly silence came over the courtroom as attorneys for the prosecution and the defense began their closing arguments in the punishment phase of the John Allen Rubio capital murder trial.

Rubio faces execution or life in prison with an opportunity for parole after 40 years. Judge Noe Gonzalez must follow the jury's decision. Deliberations have gone on for more than three hours.

The attorneys argued for and against imposing the death penalty upon Rubio, who was found guilty Monday on four counts of capital murder in the deaths of his common-law wife’s children.

Jurors first heard prosecutor Chuck Mattingly energetically ask for the death penalty and not the mercy that the defense would ask for.

“Did he show any mercy when he ruthlessly, brutally killed his babies?” Mattingly asked. “Some of the injuries were inflicted just for pain. What pleasure did he take inflicting pain on the children before he severed their head while they were still alive? These angels weren’t demons.”

Mattingly further stated that there can’t be peace without justice.

“These babies deserve peace,” he said.

Defense attorney Nat C. Perez Jr. followed, asking that Rubio’s life be spared.

“I’m here before you with the responsibility of asking you not to kill him,” Perez said.

He referred to a previous statement that the Rio Grande Valley was all about children.

“Stand up John,” Perez told a crying Rubio. “He is a child of the Valley too. But then something went wrong.”

Perez said the prosecution tried to place all the blame on Rubio’s parents, his poverty and the system. “We are not doing that,” Perez said, adding that they acknowledged that Rubio killed the children.

Perez stated Rubio’s family was a large factor in his development and pointed out the fact that none of Rubio’s family members was present in the courtroom.

“In a final stroke of indignity not one family member is here,” Perez stated, adding that they weren’t present the day before to testify on Rubio’s behalf either. “We called them. How alone is my client in this final moment when you will decide if he is to live or die and his family is not here.”

Perez said the prosecution alleged torture, but that neither Child Protective Services nor Brownsville police had any proof of torture or abuse; the CPS case was about lack of vaccinations, he said.

“We are not asking you to forgive him or to close your eyes to this horrible crime,” Perez said. “He will never be able to bring his children back. The prosecution is asking for justice by asking you to sentence him to death. That will not bring the children back either. I don’t want to believe those angels would want you to kill the man they knew as dad. There is reason to show mercy.”

Defense attorney Ed Stapleton told the jurors their decision to condemn or spare Rubio would rest on their conscience.

“The peace they offer is the peace of the morgue,” Stapleton said, referring to the prosecution. “It’s time to end the cycle of violence. May God have mercy on our souls.”

Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos then addressed the jury, saying the reason to execute Rubio is not for vengeance but to protect the community.

“He is a criminal,” Villalobos said. "We have to protect society.”