Peter Anthony Cantu was born on August 28, 1975, in the United States. He grew up in Houston, Texas, in a lower-income neighborhood with known gang activity. Cantu eventually became the leader of a small street gang known as the "Black and White" gang, which included his younger brother, Joe Cantu, and a number of teenagers who would later become co-defendants in one of the most brutal crimes in Houston’s history. As a teenager, Cantu reportedly had a reputation for being controlling and aggressive, and he was known to engage in petty crimes and associate with individuals involved in delinquent behavior. His upbringing and associations would ultimately culminate in a horrific crime that shocked both Texas and the nation.

Little is known about Cantu’s education or employment history, but by the time he was 18 years old, he had already established himself as a dominant figure among his peers. He was considered the ringleader of the group that carried out the horrific 1993 gang rape and murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña. Cantu’s leadership role in the gang was central to the events that transpired on the night of the murders, and his actions would later result in a capital conviction and execution.

On the night of June 24, 1993, Peter Anthony Cantu orchestrated and participated in the gang rape and murder of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Peña in the Oak Forest area of Houston, Texas. The two teenagers had been walking home after a friend's pool party and decided to take a shortcut through the railroad tracks near T.C. Jester Park. Unfortunately, this shortcut led them directly into a secluded area where Cantu and several members of his gang were celebrating a gang initiation.

The gang had just inducted a new member and had been drinking heavily. When Ertman and Peña encountered them, Cantu and the others forcibly detained the girls and subjected them to a prolonged and brutal assault. Over the course of more than an hour, both girls were repeatedly gang-raped by multiple assailants, including Cantu. Witnesses later testified that Cantu was not only the ringleader of the attack but also one of the most aggressive participants.

Once the sexual assaults ended, Cantu decided the girls should be killed to prevent them from identifying their attackers. He and his accomplices took turns strangling the girls with their shoelaces and a belt, tightening them by pulling with their feet to ensure death. Their bodies were then dragged into the woods and left near the railroad tracks. For days, their families searched frantically, unaware of the horror that had unfolded.

Cantu later bragged about the crimes to friends, which eventually led to the arrests of all involved. He was arrested shortly after the bodies were discovered. In 1994, Cantu was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. The case gained national attention due to the sheer brutality of the crimes, the young age of the victims, and the callousness of the attackers.

Peter Cantu was incarcerated on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Texas. His case became central to victims’ rights advocacy, especially after Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña’s families lobbied successfully to change Texas law to allow relatives of victims to witness executions.

After more than 16 years on death row, Cantu was executed by lethal injection on August 17, 2010, at the Huntsville Unit. He declined to make a final statement and showed no remorse. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. and was buried at the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery along with fellow perpetrators José Medellín and Derrick O’Brien.