Carlos Alberto Granados

Case information

• Name: Carlos Alberto Granados
• Gender: Male
• Age: 36 at execution
• Race: Hispanic
• Hair color: Black
• Eye color: Brown
• Height: 5' 03"
• Weight: 172 lb
• Occupation: laborer
• Native county: Manhattan
• Education: 11 years
• Execution location: Texas
• Execution method: lethal injection
• Execution date: January 10, 2007

Timeline

• April 1994 — Katherine Jiminez married Anthony Jiminez.
• June 13, 1995 — Katherine Jiminez gave birth to a son, Anthony.
• September 13, 1998 — Carlos Granados stabbed Katherine Jiminez repeatedly with a long kitchen knife and stabbed her 3-year-old son, Anthony Jiminez, to death, during an argument with Katherine Jiminez at her apartment in Georgetown.
• September 14, 1998 — Georgetown police visited Katherine Jiminez’s apartment after family members reported that Katherine was not heard from and Anthony had not been dropped off as planned; officers and firefighters entered the apartment and found Granados covered in blood holding a bloody knife.
• April 25, 1999 — A Williamson County jury sentenced Granados to death on his capital murder conviction.
• May 8, 2002 — Granados’s conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal.
• March 24, 2002 — The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review of the Texas court’s decision on direct appeal.
• September 18, 2002 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Granados’s writ application.
• January 15, 2004 — Granados filed a federal writ of habeas corpus petition.
• February 17, 2005 — A U.S. district court adopted a magistrate’s report and recommendation and denied habeas relief.
• March 9, 2005 — The U.S. district court denied a certificate of appealability (“COA”).
• July 5, 2006 — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a COA and affirmed the denial of the habeas petition.
• December 4, 2006 — The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review of the 5th Circuit Court’s decision.
• July 19, 2006 — The 277th District Court in Williamson County scheduled Granados’s execution for Wednesday, January 10, 2007.
• January 10, 2007 — Carlos Granados was executed by lethal injection in Texas; he was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

The offence

Granados was convicted of capital murder for the murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, Anthony Jiminez, and for stabbing his girlfriend Katherine Jiminez during the same attack. The attack occurred during an argument between Granados and Katherine Jiminez.

Victims

• Anthony Jiminez — 3-year-old son of Katherine Jiminez; was stabbed in the chest and died moments later.
• Katherine Jiminez — Granados’s girlfriend and Anthony’s mother; was stabbed nearly 30 times and survived; she also suffered a spinal cord injury that caused loss of feelings in her legs.

How the attack occurred (as described)

• Katherine planned to drop Anthony off at her mother’s house and to pick him up the next morning.
• An argument escalated after Granados refused Katherine’s order to leave; the pair had dated before Katherine married and had Anthony.
• Katherine told Granados she did not want to talk to him and did not want him to be around her, and told him to get his things and leave.
• After a cooling off period and further phone contact from Katherine’s sister, Granados again asked, “You want me to leave?” and Katherine said that she did.
• Granados attacked Katherine with a long kitchen knife; Katherine described him stabbing her repeatedly and slashing her throat.
• Anthony was in the living room watching television; Anthony screamed, “I don’t want to die. Don’t kill me. I don’t want to die!” before being stabbed in the chest and dying moments later.

Extent of injuries

• Katherine suffered nearly 30 stab wounds.
• One of the wounds damaged Katherine’s spinal cord and caused loss of feeling in her legs.

Investigation and arrest

Family members became worried because they had not heard from Katherine, and because Anthony had not been dropped off at his grandmother’s house and Katherine had not reported for work. Officers went to Katherine’s apartment on Monday morning after family members reported the concerns.

Entry to the apartment

• The apartment was locked from the inside.
• Officers knocked and called but received no response, heard no noise inside, and could not see lights from the outside.
• An apartment manager was unable to enter because of an interior deadbolt.
• Firefighters arrived with a doorjamb spreader and opened the apartment door after approximately five minutes.

What officers found

• Inside the apartment, officers and firefighters found Granados covered in blood holding a bloody kitchen knife.
• Granados’s right hand was initially hidden; when ordered, he raised his right hand holding the knife.
• Officers told him to release the knife. Granados told police: “Shoot me, just shoot me.”
• Granados eventually dropped the knife and was handcuffed.
• Officers found Anthony’s body and found Katherine covered in blood.

Statements to police

• After officers determined no one else was in the apartment and medical personnel entered, Katherine told police: “He killed my baby, and I have been waiting for you to come.”

Criminal history (violence evidence presented at trial)

Prosecutors presented evidence of violent history, including testimony from multiple witnesses:

• A girlfriend testified that Granados physically assaulted her by punching her, grabbing her neck, and choking her.
• The same girlfriend testified that she caught Granados kissing her thirteen-year-old sister, and that she found bite marks and bruises on her three-year-old son after he visited Granados.
• Granados admitted to a case worker that he bit the boy and had spanked him, leaving bruises.
• A different girlfriend testified that Granados fathered a child but provided no financial support for his child.
• Additional testimony established that Granados assaulted a family member with a beer bottle, causing injury.
• Testimony from Williams County correctional officers showed that Granados refused to follow orders in the county jail and repeatedly said he did not care if he was disciplined for misconduct.

Trial

Charges and conviction

A Williamson County jury convicted Granados of capital murder for the 1998 murder of Anthony Jiminez.

Sentencing

On April 25, 1999, a Williamson County jury sentenced Granados to death.

Trial testimony (Katherine Jiminez)

Katherine testified at trial and described Granados’s actions in detail, including the argument and the stabbing sequence.

Quoted statements at trial

• “I don’t want to die. Don’t kill me. I don’t want to die!” — Anthony Jiminez (as testified to by Katherine Jiminez).

Sentencing and appellate history

State direct appeal and state post-conviction filings

• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Granados’s conviction and sentence on May 8, 2002.
• The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review on March 24, 2002.
• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Granados’s writ application on September 18, 2002.

Federal habeas corpus and related proceedings

• Granados filed a federal writ of habeas corpus petition on January 15, 2004.
• A U.S. district court adopted a magistrate’s report and recommendation and denied habeas relief on February 17, 2005.
• The U.S. district court denied a certificate of appealability (“COA”) on March 9, 2005.
• The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a COA and affirmed denial of habeas relief on July 5, 2006.

U.S. Supreme Court denial of certiorari

• On December 4, 2006, the U.S.

Execution scheduling

• On July 19, 2006, the 277th District Court in Williamson County scheduled Granados’s execution for Wednesday, January 10, 2007.

Execution

Scheduled and execution details

Carlos Granados was scheduled for execution in Texas. He was executed by lethal injection on January 10, 2007.

Time of death

• The lethal drugs began flowing at 6:14 p.m. and he was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

Last statement

While strapped to a gurney, Granados addressed Katherine Jiminez:

“Kathy, you know I never meant to hurt you,” he said. “I gave you everything and that's what made me so angry.”
“Kathy, you know I never meant to hurt you,” he told her. “I gave you everything and that's what made me so angry. But I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry.”

Granados also expressed love to his family and others in a last statement.

Other details

Relationship and background details described at trial

• Katherine Jiminez first met Granados in 1993.
• Katherine and Granados became friends, spent time together socially, and dated for a short time before parting ways while remaining in friendly contact.
• After Katherine married Anthony Jiminez in April 1994 and gave birth to Anthony on June 13, 1995, Katherine and her husband separated.
• In late 1997, Katherine re-established a relationship with Granados, who lived in New York at that time.
• In January 1998, Katherine moved into an apartment in Georgetown.
• In March, Granados visited her from New York, and after another visit in July 1998, Granados decided to return to Texas.
• Katherine and Granados agreed they would live together until Granados got on his feet.
• In late August 1998, Granados began living with Katherine and Anthony in her apartment.

Plans for work and childcare on the day of the offence

• Both Katherine and Granados were supposed to go to work on September 13, 1998.
• Katherine planned to drop Anthony off at her mother’s house and pick him up the next morning.

Katherine’s later remarriage and children (as described in post-execution accounts)

After the attack and conviction, Katherine Jiminez remarried and had two small children.

Victim attendance at execution

• Katherine Jiminez watched Granados’s execution from a viewing room reserved for victims and their families.

Execution-related scheduling context (as described)

• Texas executed Granados in Texas’ first execution of the year.
• Granados was the first of five people scheduled for execution in the state in January 2007.
• Additional executions were scheduled in 2007 in Texas, including Johnathan Moore set to die in January 2007.

References within the record (court decisions)

• Granados v. State, 85 S.W.3d 217 (Tex.Crim.App. 2002) (direct appeal), affirmed.
• Granados v. Quarterman, 455 F.3d 529 (5th Cir. 2006) (habeas), affirmed denial of federal habeas relief.