Attorneys for a man on death row for the 2004 murder of a Collin County woman are asking the United States Supreme Court to delay his execution on April 23, citing ineffective counsel during his trial.
Attorneys for Moises Mendoza requested the Supreme Court on Friday to review a Texas Criminal Court of Appeals decision to refuse a request alleging Mendoza’s counsel was ineffective.
According to court documents, Mendoza’s prior counsel failed to verify testimony during sentencing from a jailer who said Mendoza started a brawl with another inmate. Prosecutors were exploiting the narrative to buttress their allegations that Mendoza remained a danger after being locked up and was deserving of the death punishment.
Melvin Johnson, the convict accused by the prosecution of being attacked by Mendoza, said in an affidavit in 2016 that he was the aggressor.
Johnson repeated those statements in a March 2025 affidavit, claiming Mendoza was only permitted out of his cell for recreation and that he had been released with him and “knew the guards wanted me to jump him.”
“When my door opened with Mendoza out, I knew the guards wanted me to jump him, and that’s what I did,” Johnson wrote in the March 2025 affidavit. “He quickly collapsed to the ground and covered himself to protect himself. He never threw a punch.
Johnson claimed that after attacking Mendoza in prison, he received an extra tray of food.
Murder of Rachelle Tolleson
Rachelle Tolleson and her 5-month-old daughter returned home around 10 p.m. on March 17, 2004, after a visit with Tolleson’s mother.
According to court documents, her mother arrived at Tolleson’s Farmersville home the next morning and saw the back door wide open and the bedroom in “chaotic disarray.” The baby was alone in bed.
After being recognized as a suspect and arrested, Mendoza admitted to killing Tolleson.
Mendoza told police that she had willingly accompanied him in his truck and that he choked her and made her pass out.
Court records state Mendoza drove to a field behind his house and had sex with Tolleson before choking her again.
He then carried her into the field and choked her until she “appeared dead” before slashing her in the throat with a knife, according to court filings.
After being interviewed by police, Mendoza moved Tolleson’s body to a more remote location and burned it, according to court documents. Six days later, authorities discovered her body.
