BROWNSVILLE — The building where three Brownsville children were decapitated by convicted killer John Allen Rubio 13 years ago is scheduled to be demolished tomorrow.
The building’s demolition is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the East Tyler Street and East 8th Street, city officials reported.
The Brownsville City Commission in December voted to demolish the building, which has been known as the “Rubio House,” at the request of residents living in the neighborhood. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted in favor of the demolition Jan. 7, basically making it a done deal.
It was in March 2003 that Rubio, along with his common-law wife, Angela Camacho, killed three children.
The children belonged to Camacho, with Rubio being the biological father of one of them. The victims were all younger than 4 years old. The slayings took place inside the family’s apartment.
Rubio confessed to killing the children to police. In his confession, he stated he killed the children because he believed there was an evil presence inside them. Rubio was convicted of their murders, receiving the death penalty later that year.
His first conviction was overturned, and he was retried on four counts of capital murder in 2010 and found guilty by a Hidalgo County jury. Rubio was once again sentenced to death.
Rubio remains on death row. Camacho is serving a life sentence for her participation in the murders.
The demolition of the building was to occur earlier this year, but it was delayed because asbestos was found in the building and had to be removed.
The Brownsville Historic and Preservation Board wasn’t in favor of the demolition and had hoped that instead of demolishing the building, officials could find another use for it.
