Condemned man in Dallas-area slaying loses appeal

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the death sentence of a Dallas man condemned for fatally shooting his cousin during a robbery a decade ago that also left a second person dead.

Thirty-seven-year-old Ivan Abner Cantu lost an appeal before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, moving him a step closer to execution. He was convicted of killing 27-year-old James Mosqueda and indicted but not tried for the death of Mosqueda’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Amy Kitchen. The two were shot in November 2000 at Mosqueda’s Collin County home in north Dallas.

Mosqueda’s Corvette was taken and found outside Cantu’s apartment. Evidence showed he took Kitchen’s engagement ring and gave it to his own girlfriend.

His appeal, rejected late Wednesday, argued his trial attorneys were deficient and he was innocent.