HOUSTON (AP) - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has refused an appeal from a 42-year-old former street gang leader sent to death row for the slayings of a teenager and a child in a drive-by shooting in Houston on New Year’s Day 20 years ago.
The state’s top criminal court says the appeal for Anthony Shawn Medina was improper and refused to consider arguments raised in it. Judge David Newell wrote Wednesday it’s the fifth such appeal from Medina to the court and that Medina isn’t entitled to a review of claims that already have been resolved.
Medina was convicted of killing 13-year-old Diana Rodriguez and her 8-year-old brother, David.
Court records show the victims’ cousin was dating a rival gang member and the shooting was in retaliation for another gang slaying.
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