The Shocking Case of Elizabeth Peña and Jennifer Ertman

Elizabeth Christine Peña and Jennifer Lee Ertman were two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, who were tragically murdered on June 24, 1993. At the time of their deaths, Peña was 16 years old, and Ertman was 14 years old.

The gruesome nature of their murders drew significant attention from Texas media and resulted in new legislation that allows the families of victims to witness the execution of the perpetrators. Notably, the state of Texas rejected attempts by the International Court of Justice to halt the execution of several individuals involved in the crime.

Born on June 21, 1977, and August 15, 1978, respectively, Peña and Ertman were close friends who both attended Waltrip High School. Despite their age difference, both sets of parents approved of their friendship, with Peña's father seeing Ertman—a modest girl who had just begun experimenting with makeup—as a positive influence on his daughter.

On the day of the incident, June 24, 1993, Ertman's father drove his daughter to Peña's home in the afternoon. Later that evening, Peña's mother took the girls to a friend's pool party.

As the evening progressed, the girls realized they would be late returning home and decided to leave the party early to meet their agreed-upon 11:30 p.m. curfew. In order to get home quicker, Ertman and Peña chose to take a 10-minute shortcut to Peña's residence in Oak Forest, a decision that would unfortunately lead to their untimely deaths.

Elizabeth Peña and Jennifer Ertman were walking along the White Oak Bayou when they came across six members of the "Black and White" gang. The gang members had just finished a brutal initiation ceremony for 17-year-old Raul Omar Villarreal, who had to fight several gang members successively for five minutes each before they would decide whether to accept him.

After being beaten midway through his fight with the third member, Villarreal was knocked unconscious and left writhing on the ground. Following a private discussion among the gang members, the gang leader, Peter Cantu, announced that Villarreal was accepted into the gang. Villarreal joined the other gang members, and they celebrated by drinking beer.

Around 40 minutes after Villarreal's acceptance into the gang, Ertman and Peña passed by the gang. José Medellín, a gang member, made an unsolicited advance on Peña, who brushed his hand aside and kept walking. Medellín responded by dragging Peña down a gravel decline toward the other gang members.

Peña resisted and screamed for help but was overpowered and assaulted by the gang members. The gang members then realized that the girls would be able to identify them, leading Cantu to order their murder.

The girls were taken to a wooded area and strangled to death. While Ertman was being murdered, Peña was forced to watch, and when she tried to escape, she was tackled and brutally assaulted by Cantu before being strangled to death herself.

Four days after the murders, the girls' bodies were discovered in the park under hot weather conditions. Due to significant decomposition, dental records were used to identify them. The medical examiner confirmed that the cause of death was strangulation. All those suspected of being involved in the crime were arrested, and Medellín provided both written and taped confessions.

Legal Proceedings

Elizabeth Peña and Jennifer Ertman's case led to the arrest and sentencing of several perpetrators. Peter Anthony Cantu, José Ernesto Medellín, Derrick Sean O'Brien, Efrain Pérez, and Raul Omar Villarreal were given death sentences, while Venancio Medellín, José's brother, received a 40-year prison sentence for his involvement in the sexual assault of Jennifer Ertman.

However, when the Supreme Court banned the executions of people who committed crimes while under 18 years old, Pérez and Villarreal's sentences were automatically commuted to life in prison​.

Derrick Sean O'Brien was executed by lethal injection on July 11, 2006.