Fort Worth man awaits state execution

Oct. 05--A man who was linked to a murder nearly 20 years after it was committed is set to be executed Wednesday at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit.

Juan Ramon Segunda, 55, is slated to die by lethal injection after a 2006 conviction in the rape and murder of 11-year-old Vanessa Villa in Fort Worth.

The case went cold until 2005, when blood samples from Segunda linked him to DNA evidence taken from the crime scene. The state has also linked him to the murder of three other women, but he has not been tried for any of those crimes.

The murder took place on Aug. 3, 1986, when Villa returned home the evening before after working at a flea market and went immediately to bed, fully clothed. Later that night, her mother and aunt left to run some errands, only to find Villa unconscious on the bed when they returned.

According to court records, Villa was bare from the waist down with her legs slightly apart and fluid on her legs. The window fan in the room had been pushed inside and the window screen was loosely hanging. Villa was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police were able to collect DNA evidence and ruled out several suspects, with the rape and murder eventually becoming a "cold case."

In 2000, Segunda submitted a blood sample from another crime and his DNA was linked to the crime. Investigators performed multiple verification tests and Segunda's DNA was a micro-allete match, making the odds astronomical to belong to anyone else.

Segunda was an initial suspect in the murder, with ties to the family. He even attended the victims wake and signed the guest book.

Court records state that Segunda lived in extreme poverty in an unstable family as a child. During his trial's punishment stage, a neuropsychologist testified that Segundo's "extensive history of inhalant abuse" and failure to have a "stimulating background upbringing" may have caused "significant brain dysfunction."

His lawyers filed a request for relief in federal court in May, and also requested a stay of execution in July, which was denied and pushed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to rule.

If carried out, Segundo will be the 11th state execution in Texas this year.

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