Ignacio Cuevas was born on July 31, 1931. Details of his early life are limited, but prior to 1974 he was serving a prison sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections for crimes that included armed robbery. By the early 1970s, Cuevas had become associated with other high-profile inmates, including Federico "Fred" Gómez Carrasco, a notorious South Texas drug kingpin, and Rodolpho Dominguez.

In July 1974, Cuevas was incarcerated at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas, a maximum-security prison known for housing some of the state’s most dangerous offenders. It was during this time that he became part of one of the most infamous prison sieges in U.S. history.

On July 24, 1974, Cuevas, alongside Federico Gómez Carrasco and Rodolpho Dominguez, orchestrated a violent hostage-taking inside the prison’s education and library building. Carrasco, who had smuggled firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition into the facility, planned an elaborate escape.

The three inmates took eleven prison employees and four prisoners hostage, using them as leverage in negotiations with prison officials, the FBI, and Texas Rangers. For eleven days, the convicts demanded weapons, body armor, and an armored vehicle for their escape. The standoff drew massive media attention and became the longest recorded prison siege in U.S. history.

On August 3, 1974, the inmates attempted to escape using a human shield known as the “Trojan Taco,” constructed from chalkboards and legal books. The three convicts and four hostages were inside the shield, with additional hostages surrounding it. Guards planned to stop them with high-pressure water hoses, but a malfunction allowed the inmates to fire upon hostages. Two female hostages, Julia Standley and Yvonne Beseda, were fatally shot.

During the chaos, law enforcement returned fire. Carrasco committed suicide, Dominguez was killed, and Ignacio Cuevas was captured alive. He was later charged and convicted of capital murder for the death of Julia Standley.

Cuevas remained on death row for nearly sixteen years. On May 23, 1991, at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas, he was executed by lethal injection. His last meal consisted of chicken dumplings, steamed rice, sliced bread, black-eyed peas, and iced tea. His final words were: "I'm going to a beautiful place. O.K., warden, roll 'em."