William josef berkeley

A killer has been put to death for the rape and murder of a teenage girl who was shot five times in the head before being dumped in the desert. William Berkley robbed and abducted Sophia Martinez, 18 , in March , after she stopped at a cash point to withdraw some money. The teenager's body was abandoned outside El Paso, in Texas.

She had been shot in the head five times.

William Josef Berkley, convicted last week of fatally shooting an year old woman, was sentenced to death Monday after jurors deliberated for a little more than four hours.

There was also evidence she had been raped. Put to death: William Berkley had denied murdering Sophia Martinez in In a brief statement before he was put to death, Berkley thanked his girlfriend Samantha Ann Gray , a friend and his spiritual adviser, who were at the execution, for their love and support. Berkley was the sixth Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year, making the state the most prolific user of the death penalty in the US.

Ten other prisoners are set to die over the next three months. Miss Martinez's family were at the jail to witness the execution.

William Josef Berkley, 31, was executed by lethal injection on 22 April in Huntsville, Texas for the abduction, rape, robbery, and murder of an year-old woman.

Her sister MaryAnn Martinez said: 'Today is not about revenge. That's not in our hands. Dumped in the desert: Sophia Martinez was just 18 when she died. Berkley did not mention Miss Martinez or look or speak to her mother and two sisters during his final statement. A surveillance camera caught the robbery on tape and showed a man prosecutors said was Berkley forcing his way into Martinez's car.

Jaime Esparza, the El Paso district attorney who prosecuted Berkley, said there was plenty of evidence the condemned inmate killed Martinez, including a signed confession where he admitted shooting her. Frank Macias, Berkley's lawyer at his trial, said the photo was 'a bad picture' but was 'difficult to refute.