Texas serial rapist, murderer won’t face death penalty after appeal ruled in his favor

A serial rapist and murderer who killed and raped three people, including an 11-year-old girl, will face life in prison instead of the death penalty after a Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling found that he was intellectually disabled, according to a news release from the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.

Juan Segundo, 59, sexually assaulted and killed 11-year-old Vanessa Villa in 1986 and was convicted and sentenced to death by a Tarrant County jury in December 2006, according to the DA’s office and court records. The district attorney’s office also said Segundo raped and killed two other women from 1986 to his conviction in 2006.

But due to changes in the way intellectual disability is determined in criminal cases, Segundo will now face life in prison with the possibility of parole in 2026, according to the news release.

The appeals court found that previous methods used to determine whether or not Segundo was intellectually disabled were outdated and unconstitutional and that, under new standards, he is considered to have an intellectual disability and is therefore not eligible for the death penalty.