May 22, 2013
The leader of the notorious "Texas 7" gang heads for execution for killing a suburban Dallas police officer during a robbery two weeks after organizing and pulling off the biggest prison break in Texas history.
George Rivas faces lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for gunning down 29-year-old Aubrey Hawkins. The Irving police officer interrupted the gang's holdup of a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve night 11 years ago.
Appeals have run out for the 41-year-old Rivas, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has rejected a clemency petition.
Rivas and his accomplices fled a South Texas prison in December 2000. A month after Hawkins' slaying, they were arrested in Colorado. One committed suicide, and the six survivors received death sentences. Rivas would be the second executed.
