Carlos DeLuna was born on March 15, 1962, in Corpus Christi, Texas. His early life was marked by instability and brushes with the law. A high school dropout, DeLuna had prior convictions for attempted rape and other offenses. He had a history of petty crimes, but nothing as serious as capital murder until the events of 1983. DeLuna was unemployed and on parole at the time of his arrest. He lived in poverty and struggled with the consequences of his criminal record. Though he claimed to have known Carlos Hernandez, a man later suspected by some to be the actual killer, DeLuna was seen by many as vulnerable, poorly educated, and easily intimidated.

On the night of February 4, 1983, 24-year-old gas station clerk Wanda Lopez was stabbed to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, while trying to call 911. Two eyewitnesses described the assailant: one saw the man drag Lopez by the hair and flee the store, while another recalled the suspect’s behavior just before the attack, including him playing with a knife.

Carlos DeLuna, then 20 years old, was found 30 to 40 minutes later hiding under a pickup truck in a puddle, shirtless and shoeless. Despite no blood being found on his body or clothes and lacking a murder weapon, he was arrested and charged with the crime. Witnesses identified him at a police “show-up.” DeLuna claimed innocence, saying the real killer was a man named Carlos Hernandez—someone known to local law enforcement but dismissed in court as a "phantom."

DeLuna's trial was swift. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in July 1983. At trial, the defense was minimal. The jury never heard that Hernandez was a known violent felon, who had assaulted women, committed armed robberies, and even reportedly confessed to the crime DeLuna was executed for.

DeLuna was executed by lethal injection on December 7, 1989. He never identified Hernandez from police photos but maintained that Hernandez was the killer. Posthumous investigations by the Chicago Tribune (2006) and Columbia Human Rights Law Review (2012) cast serious doubt on the conviction. These reports revealed major flaws in the police investigation, prosecution, and trial—most notably, the failure to pursue Hernandez, who resembled DeLuna and had a history of knife-related violence.

Witnesses later claimed Hernandez had confessed to the murder, and a 2021 documentary, The Phantom, reignited debate over whether Texas executed the wrong man. DeLuna’s case is now widely cited as a likely wrongful execution and a powerful example of flaws in the American capital punishment system.