Honduran man on Texas death row loses appeal

HOUSTON (AP) — A man from Honduras on Texas death row for the rape-slaying of a 15-year-old girl in Houston has lost an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The high court, without comment, refused Tuesday to review the case of 34-year-old Edgardo Rafael Cubas.

He was sentenced to die for the 2002 fatal shooting of high school sophomore Esmeralda Alvarado. Cubas and a second man, Walter Sorto, were charged and given death sentences related to a series of slayings that terrorized Houston's East End.

Prosecutors said Alvarado was abducted by Cubas and Sorto, who took turns raping her in their car. Cubas later told police he shot the girl in the head. Sorto, from El Salvador, received a death sentence for the slayings of two waitresses four months later.