Texas man executed after Supreme Court denies plea
Moises Mendoza
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A Texas man who murdered a Collin County mother in 2004 was executed Wednesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case.
Execution of Moises Mendoza
The execution of Moises Mendoza was carried out by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas. Mendoza was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. according to the office of the Texas Attorney General.
What they're saying:
"Tonight, the State of Texas upheld its duty and obligation to enforce justice and ensure that criminals receive the appropriate punishment," said Attorney General Paxton. "Twenty years after Mendoza violently murdered Rachelle Tolleson, robbing her five-month-old daughter of her mother, Texas has executed him. I will always do everything in my power to defend the law and hold criminals accountable."
Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis confirmed the execution and issued this press release:
"Moises Mendoza was executed tonight for the 2004 abduction and murder of 20-year-old Rachelle Tolleson—a brutal, unforgivable crime that devastated her family and shocked our community.
From the very beginning, there was no real doubt about his guilt. He confessed. He led investigators to where he dumped Rachelle’s body and directed them to other physical evidence linking him to the crime. And the detective who took his statement said Mendoza showed no remorse—he even seemed proud of what he’d done.
Over the past twenty years, his conviction and sentence have been thoroughly reviewed by multiple courts, at both the state and federal levels. Each one affirmed what the jury decided: that the evidence was overwhelming, and the sentence was just. Tonight, justice was finally carried out.
Nothing can undo what Rachelle’s loved ones have endured. But justice is not about erasing the past—it’s about honoring the life that was taken. I hope tonight brings some measure of resolution to her family and friends. My thoughts and prayers remain with them as they continue to carry the weight of this unimaginable loss."
Moises Mendoza was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 for the murder of 20-year-old Rachelle Tolleson. Court documents state Mendoza took Tolleson from her home in Farmersville, Texas, leaving her young daughter home alone. Mendoza took Tolleson to a field behind his home where he strangled and stabbed her before burning her body. She was found six days later. Tolleson's daughter was unharmed.
Moises Mendoza appealed to the Supreme Court on Friday asking for a stay of his execution and for the court to review a decision from a lower court denying his appeal. Those requests were rejected Wednesday, just hours before his scheduled 6 p.m. execution.
Appeal to Supreme Court
Dig deeper:
Mendoza's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to review a Texas Criminal Court of Appeals decision to deny a request that claims Mendoza's counsel was ineffective.
Specifically, court documents state that Mendoza's former attorney did not investigate testimony during sentencing from a jailer who claimed Mendoza had started a fight with another inmate. Prosecutors were using the story to assert their claims that Mendoza remained a danger despite being locked up and was deserving of the death penalty.
In 2016, the inmate the prosecution claimed was attacked by Mendoza, Melvin Johnson, said in an affidavit he was the aggressor.
Johnson reiterated those claims again in a March 2025 affidavit where he claims Mendoza was only allowed out of his cell for recreation alone and that he had been let out with Mendoza and "knew the guards wanted me to jump him."
"When my door opened with Mendoza out, I knew the guards wanted me to jump him, and that's what I did," Johnson said in the March 2025 affidavit. "He immediately fell to the ground and covered up to protect himself. He never threw a punch."
Johnson claimed he was given an extra tray of food for attacking Mendoza in prison.
The other side:
The Texas Attorney General's Office urged the court to deny Mendoza's appeal, saying that Mendoza's claim is "serial relitigation" and that "public interest weighs heavily against a stay."
The office, in their push to deny Mendoza's request pointed to earlier court proceedings where "the court thoroughly went through the violent and aggravating evidence presented at punishment" that was beyond the testimony given by the jailer.
"The State and crime victims have a ‘powerful and legitimate interest in punishing the guilty," the attorney general’s office said.
Murder of Rachelle Tolleson
The backstory:
On March 17, 2004, Rachelle Tolleson and her 5-month-old daughter returned home around 10 p.m. from visiting Tolleson's mother.
According to court documents, her mother went to Tolleson's Farmersville house the next morning and found the back door wide open and the bedroom in "chaotic disarray." The baby was on the bed alone.
After Mendoza was identified as a suspect and arrested, he confessed to killing Tolleson.
Mendoza told police that she had willingly gone with him in his truck and that he choked her and caused her to pass out.
Court documents state Mendoza drove to a field behind his house and had sex with Tolleson before choking her again.
He then dragged her into the field and choked her until she "appeared dead" before stabbing her in the throat with a knife, court documents state.
After being interviewed by police, court documents state Mendoza moved Tolleson's body to a more remote location and burned it. She was found six days later.
What's next:
Mendoza's execution was scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday night. He became the third person executed in Texas this year.
The Source: Information on the Supreme Court decision to deny comes from the Supreme Court. Information on the request for the hearing and the murder of Rachelle Tolleson come from court documents.