Bio

Horacio Alberto Reyes-Camarena was born on June 30, 1955, in Mexico. At the age of 13, in 1969, he immigrated to the United States. Reyes-Camarena first settled in San Antonio, Texas, where he started working as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Over time, he moved to farm work and traveled through California and Oregon, following the paths taken by many migrant workers.

He worked hard in various roles, eventually becoming a field boss while picking fruit in Oregon's Willamette Valley. During the summer of 1995, he was a farm foreman living in Woodburn, Oregon. At this point in his life, Reyes-Camarena was 40 years old.

Murder Story

On September 17, 1995, Horacio Alberto Reyes-Camarena committed a violent crime in Douglas County, Oregon. He was a farm foreman at the time and agreed to drive two sisters, Maria and Angelica Zetina, to Washington to help them find work. Instead of heading north, he drove south along Highway 101.

At a stop near Sea Lion Caves outside Florence, Reyes-Camarena attacked the sisters. He stabbed Angelica 17 times and then pushed her down an embankment. Remarkably, she survived and was later found by a hunter walking along the highway. However, Maria did not survive, and her body was discovered near Reedsport.

A jury convicted Reyes-Camarena of aggravated murder and robbery in October 1996. He was sentenced to death on January 21, 1997. After his conviction, he attempted to escape from jail but was eventually recaptured. During his time in prison, he claimed that he had kidney problems, which he attributed to a medical error. He has been receiving dialysis treatment while serving his death sentence.

Reyes-Camarena is noted as the only Mexican national on death row in Oregon and is currently incarcerated in Two Rivers Correctional Institution to receive medical care.