DISCLAIMER : If you're under the age of 13, or if you're sensitive to sexual assault, torture, murder, and scary stuff in general, I suggest you don't read this Book for you're own safety.

Hello everyone. Welcome to the first ever Crime Story I ever published on Wattpad. The Story Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena stands at the top of my list as the most important Crime Story in my opinion and I highly doubt it will ever change. It is so important and emotional. This is a really tragic Crime Story that I wanna cry over. It touches me deeply because these poor Girls deserved so much better than what they got. I highly recommend you have some tissues with you when you read this because this is one of the most emotional and deep Stories I have ever laid my eyes on. Credit goes to Wikipedia, Chron, Reddit, the book "Pure Murder" by Corey Mitchell, and the YouTuber "Horror Stories" who introduced me to this Story in the first place, for the information.  Thank you.

Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were two average, beautiful teenage girls who had a very fun life together in the sunny city of Houston Texas. They had wonderful friends and family, and they couldn't have been happier with everything they had. Unfortunately, what not only them, but no one in the entire world could've predicted, was on the night of June 24th 1993, something so horrific happened to them that not only terrified and shocked the entire world, but a story that changed the justice system FOREVER. This is the story of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena.

Elizabeth Pena was born on June 21st 1977 and Jennifer Ertman was born on August 15th 1978. Both girls were born and grew up in the beautiful sunny city of Houston Texas and they were typical teenage girls who loved fashion, clothing, makeup, parties, they're friends, they're family and everything they had. Jennifer Ertman also promised to stay a virgin until she was married. They were the nicest girls you could ever meet who always loved everyone they knew. They met while attending Waltrip High School and even though they were over a year apart in age, they were the closest of friends and always hung out and spent time together. They seemed to have the perfect lives in the beautiful city of Houston, but unfortunately, they're lives would suddenly take a turn for the absolute worst before anyone could've expected...

On this day, 31 years ago, on June 24th 1993, only 3 days after Elizabeth Pena's 16th Birthday, they were at a friend's pool party house a couple miles from where they lived in TC Jester Park. They had a lot of fun at the pool party and they never wanted to leave. They ended up staying at the pool party until 11:00 PM when the party was still going on. They thought it was best to leave as soon as possible because they had to make an 11:30 PM Curfew, and they're parents probably were confused out of their minds that they weren't home yet. So they said goodbye and left for home. Unfortunately, that would've been the last time anyone would've seen them again and no one would've expected the nightmare that would come on their way home...

As the two teens were walking home, they decided to take a short cut through some railroad tracks and a water trail so they could make it home earlier. Unfortunately, this decision to take the shortcut in the park to get home would be a fatal mistake that would not only lead to their tragic deaths, but an event that would horrify and change the world...

What the two girls didn't know was behind a set of trees next to the water trail was that there was a gang of six holding an initiation for a new member who was joining them. The gang was called "The Black And White Gang" and it consisted of six teenagers. 14 year old Venancio Medellin, 17 year old Efrain Perez, the newly initiated member, 17 year old Raul Omar Villarreal, 18 year old Jose Ernesto Medellin, 18 year old Sean Derrick O'Brien, and the leader of the gang, 18 year old Peter Anthony Cantu.

On that fateful night, the gang was holding an initiation for Villrreal who was never a part of any gangs before, but he really wanted to join The Black And White Gang. To join the group, he had to fight every single member of the gang until he either gave up or lost consciousness. They were a very violent and rough gang who weren't gentle or calm in any way and they were very restrictive about letting new members join them. After Villarreal successfully fought and beat up all the gang members, Cantu thought he earned his victory. "You're in, dude! You're badass! You can hang with us anytime!" Said Cantu as the gang celebrated and welcomed Villarreal into the group. After the initiation, the gang spent time drinking beer, and trading insults and compliments at each other, enjoying the nice warm summer weather. At a first glance, it seemed like the gang was a happy and friendly gang, but deep inside they're brains and hearts, they were OBSESSED with violence and ruining people's days whenever they felt like it. And unfortunately on this summer night, what they were gonna do would not only mortify everyone hugely, but it would leave the entire world in a state of paralysis from shock...

As the two girls walked closer to the initiation, they passed 2 teenage twins who were also a part of the gang. Frank Sandoval and his twin brother, Roman Sandoval. They participated in Villarreal's initiation and they started walking home shortly after. They barely acknowledged the girls as they walked past each other. They were very lucky that they left because what neither of them, or anyone on the entire planet could've predicted would become one of the most HORRIFYING events in all of history...
As the girls finally walked past the gang, they barely acknowledged them and continued walking home, letting them mind their own business. Unfortunately, instead of letting them walk home and mind their own business too, the gang had something else far worse for the poor girls that night... As the girls walked past the 6 teens, without hesitation, Jose Medellin immediately tried to grope and pinch at Elizabeth Pena's breasts, but she slapped him away and continued walking home. "No Baby. Where are you going"? Medellin said as he quickly wrapped his arm around Pena's neck and held her hostage. He then threw her to the ground which gave all of the gang members a TERRIBLE idea that would not only give everyone in the entire world nightmares, but it would make everyone view the world in a completely NEW way...

As the gang held Elizabeth hostage and threw her to the ground, Jennifer Ertman was 20 meters ahead of her and the gang when she heard her best friend scream for help, and she immediately ran back to help her but she got caught herself and thrown to the ground with her best friend...

Within seconds, the girls were then raped by all members of the gang. They were raped vaginally, anally, and orally over and over again for over an hour... The gang members confirmed that there were no less than 2 boys raping the girls at one time... The girls immediately began crying and screaming in pain for help. They even tried to fight back by punching, kicking, and even biting the gang members, but unfortunately, there was nothing they could do against the boys and no one could hear their screams and cries for help as they were torturously raped over and over again...

Venancio Medellin, the youngest member of the gang, was the only remorseful member and the only member who didn't want any of this to happen to the girls as he claimed that he was telling the gang to stop and leave the girls alone, but Cantu and the rest of the gang kept telling him to "Get some" and started yelling at him, forcing him to join them. Venancio then started to cry as the gang kept yelling and forcing him to participate. Venancio really wanted to run off and alert the police or anyone who could help them, but he was sure that as soon as he started running for help, the gang would've caught him and assault him along with Ertman and Pena and probably kill him as well. Coming to the terrible realization that joining the boys would be the only way he would make it out of this situation alive, he raped the girls as he started to bawl...

Unfortunately, this torture was far from over for Jennifer and Elizabeth...

After raping the girls over and over for over an hour, Cantu came to the realization that they now had to kill the young girls because they would definitely report them to the police, and he told his gang that they now needed to kill the two girls and they dragged their exhausted bodies into the woods so no one would see them, and told Venancio to stay behind because he was too little to watch or participate. Venancio felt horrible about himself and the girls and he would've done anything to save them as well as himself, but he thought that even when he was out of sight from the gang, even if he tried to run off and find help now, they probably still would've immediately noticed him, caught him, and kill him along with the girls. There was nothing Venancio could do but wait and realize the nightmare he was in...

The gang then dragged the two exhausted teens into the woods to prevent them from being seen. When they felt they were far away enough, O'Brien took off his red nylon belt as Villarreal said to Jennifer, "Get on your knees, bitch." As he and O'Brien wrapped the belt around her neck as they started to strangle her as they pulled on each end of the belt as the rest of the gang helped them. They pulled so hard that the belt actually broke, but Jennifer was still alive, so the gang took off her own shoe laces and continued strangling her until she was dead, leaving Elizabeth in tears... The gang then killed Elizabeth the same way by strangling her with the shoelaces. Elizabeth cried, begged and offered to hang out and have sex with them to spare her life. She tried as hard as she could to save herself, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do as the gang continued to strangle her with the shoelaces. However, the gang wanted to make sure they were truly dead, so after they strangled the girls, they then proceeded to kick and stomp their bodies to make sure they were 100% dead. Jennifer and Elizabeth both died in a horrific way and there was nothing they could've done to save themselves...

After violently raping, torturing, killing the girls for over an hour, the gang went back to Cantu's house where he lived with his brother, Joe, and his sister in law, Christine. As soon as they arrived, Christine was very confused as she saw Villarreal was bleeding and Perez had blood on his shirt, so she asked the gang what happened to them, and Jose Medellin simply answered her saying, "They had fun." And "Details will appear on the news." However, Medellin and everyone else in his gang were PROUD of themselves and they couldn't contain themselves, so he decided to blow everyone's cover telling the couple that they raped, tortured, and killed two girls. He even said to Joe and Christine, "The bitches wouldn't die! And it would've been easier with a gun!" After Medellin told the couple that they raped and killed two girls, the gang then laughed and started to swap money and jewlery from the girls. One piece of jewelry was a ring with an "E" on it, which Medellin took to give to his own girlfriend. Another piece of jewelry was a watch Jennifer wore, which was a watch with the Walt Disney character, Goofy on it. Cantu took the watch and gave it to Venancio Medellin, the only member of the gang who wasn't happy and proud of what he and his gang did, and said to him. "Take this, I don't want it.".

Joe and Christine were DISGUSTED beyond belief by what the gang just told them, and what they were doing with their possessions.

After the gang was done swapping the girl's jewelry, they then left Cantu's house. As soon as they left, Christine urged Joe to report them to the police and tell them what happened. She and Joe both felt horrible about the girls and their families, and Joe immediately reported everything to the police, hoping something could be done about the horror he and Christine had witnessed.

As soon as it was discovered the girls did not come home that night and they were missing, the families of the girls instantly started to worry about their whereabouts, but their worries only became bigger when it was revealed that two teenage girls were raped and killed in their city and a massive search for them began. Everyone was searching urgently for the girls desperate to find out what in the world was going on, and after four days of constant worry and exhaustion, the girl's bodies were finally found on June 28th.

When the girls' bodies were being taken out of the woods, one of the gang members, Sean O'Brien and his younger brother were actually watching as the girls' bodies were being pulled out of the woods. The day before he and his gang committed the tragic murders on June 23rd, he bragged to a news reporter saying "Life means nothing.".

It was a horrifically disgusting sight when the girls's bodies were found by the police. Not only were they horribly mutilated, but they were also fried by the sun due to the hot weather in the area. Their bodies were so decayed, the girl's dental records were to be used to identify them.

The medical examinations of the two girls revealed that Peter Cantu had actually kicked several of Elizabeth's teeth out with his steel toed boots while he and his gang were kicking and stomping on them, and Jennifer's ribs were also broken. It was a truly heartbreaking sight.

When the bodies of the teens were found, Jennifer Ertman's father, Randy was about to have an interview with police about the missing girls and how frantically he and his family were trying to find them, when he heard an officer through the camera man's police scanner reporting that they found two bodies in T.C. Jester Park. Without hesitation, Randy took control of The News Van and anxiously drove to T.C. Jester where the police were recovering the bodies, and the rest of his and Pena's family quickly followed him there.

When the families arrived at the park, Randy darted out of the car to the woods on the verge of having a heart attack as the police had to hold him back from getting to the sight of the girls as he screamed "DOES ONE OF THEM HAVE BLONDE HAIR!?". Luckily, the police were able to keep him and the other family members away from the gruesome sight as he broke down on the railroad tracks. Now everyone knew the bodies were Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena and they were dead for good, and there was nothing anyone could do about them...

The brutality of the murders shocked and aggravated all of Houston County and the entire world. The scene was so bad that police themselves were tearing up as the girls' bodies were being recovered.

The day after bodies were found on June 29th, all of the gang members were caught and were immediately sent to The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice.

Jose Medellin, Sean O'Brien, Peter Cantu, Raul Villarreal and Efrain Perez, every single member of the gang except for Venancio Medellin all received The Death Sentence without any second thoughts.

Venancio Medellin who only participated in the rape, was sentenced to the maximum of 40 years in prison because he was a minor, he was forced to participate in the rape by the other members, he did not participate in the murder, he was the only remorseful member of the gang, and because he couldn't have really done anything to save the girls.

11 years after their sentencings however, on March 1st 2005, The Supreme Court Of The United States actually banned executions on people who committed crimes while under the age of 18, and Raul Villarreal and Efrain Perez were both 17 at the time of the murders. So at the very last second, their sentences were commuted to Life In Prison, and their lives were spared.
For the three 18 year olds however, Jose Medellin, Sean O'Brien, and Peter Cantu, there was nothing they could do to spare their lives. Their executions were still happening, and there was NO turning back...

Sean O'Brien was the first member of the gang to be executed. He was executed 13 years after the murders on July 11th 2006. Before this case however, O'Brien, Medellin, and Cantu were actually responsible for another murder five months before the murders of Jennifer and Elizabeth.

On January 4th 1993, a 27 year old mother of two young children named Patricia Lourdes Lopez was found in Melrose Park. On that day, she ran out of gas and was stranded on the side of a freeway so she bought a few items from a nearby store, including gas to get her back home. While she was leaving the store, O'Brien, Medellin, and Cantu approached her and asked her to buy them some beer since they were underage, saying they would buy her gas in exchange. Lopez agreed to the deal and then followed them. Instead of taking her back to her truck, however, the three then took her to a nearby back parking lot. The psychotic trio then proceeded to rape, stab and eviscerate the woman. She was found partially naked with her throat cut.
The scene was absolutely gruesome and horrific, but police found a beer can with O'Brien, and DNA from him along with Medellin and Cantu on Lopez's body, which helped the police figure out who the people were that killed the 27 year old mother during their trials. However, police didn't learn it was O'Brien' Medellin, and Cantu's DNA until after they couldn't find him until they were caught and charged for the murders of Jennifer and Elizabeth.

13 years after the gruesome murders, O'Brien was finally put to death at 6:19 PM on July 11th 2006. His last words to the victims' families and everyone else watching him were : "I'm sorry... I've always been sorry..." O'Brien said as he held his head up and looked at the people watching his last moments, including the families of the victims. "They are the two worst mistakes I have made in my whole life... Not because I'm here, but because of what I did... And I hurt a lot of people... You and my family..."
During his last moments alive, O'Brien's mother, Ella and his grandfather were there watching his execution. Ella told her son that she was really angry with him for what he did and he never should have been born. O'Brien repeated again and again that he was sorry, until he was finally given lethal injection and put to death...

Jose Medellin was the next member of the gang to be executed. He was executed 2 years after O'Brien and 15 years after the murders on August 5th 2008. Before his execution however, Medellin actually tried to make one last effort to spare him the death penalty, and that was by using his international position. He was born in Mexico and moved to The United States a few years later. Texas had executed Mexican immigrants before, but this was the first time it was seen as a big deal and became a controversial divisive topic. Because Medellin belonged to another country, he wondered if it should be illegal to execute immigrants from different countries without their consent because they also belonged to their home country as well as their current one. Medellin's impending execution became a huge international divisive controversy as there were a lot of people saying he shouldn't be executed because he also belonged to Mexico and The United States should have at least consent from his country to execute him, including the President of the United States, George Bush. But there were also a lot of people saying it didn't matter if he was an immigrant or not and The United States didn't need consent from Mexico to put him to death.
Many people, including the families of Jennifer and Elizabeth were strongly in favor of Medellin's execution and unfortunately for him, he lost the last chance to save his life. The United States officially declared that it did not matter if a death row inmate is an immigrant or not, they would still be executed. Jose Medellin's life was still going to be erased from the Earth, and he couldn't do anything more to save himself.

Before the 33 year old immigrant was given Lethal Injection at 9:57 PM on August 5th 2008, his final words to everyone who was watching him, especially the families of Jennifer and Elizabeth were : "I'm sorry that my actions brought you pain. I really hope this brings closure to what you seek. Don't ever hate them for what they do. Never harbour hate. I love you." After his final words, he was finally given lethal injection and put to death and just like that, he was gone from this world.
The last member of the gang to be executed was the leader, Peter Cantu. He was executed 2 years after Medellin and 17 years after the Murders of the two girls on August 17th 2010. His last meal consisted of enchiladas, fajitas and a cinnamon bun. Right before he was executed, when he was asked if he had any final words, he simply said, "Nah." He never apologized to any of the families or anyone else who was watching him, and he remained completely silent until he was finally given lethal injection at 6:09 PM, and he died 8 minutes later at 6:17. And just like that, all three of the death row murdering rapists who made the lives for The Ertman, Pena, and Lopes families a living hell, were no longer alive and out of their existence.

After The United States banned executions on criminals who committed crimes under the age of 18, Raul Villarreal gave a brief interview, saying he was relieved that he was no longer on death row, and he also expressed deep remorse and sorrow for the families and friends of Jennifer and Elizabeth and for the girls themselves. "In a way." He said after a thoughtful sigh, "It's a big relief, but I didn't act like I was celebrating. It's bittersweet. There are still a lot of guys left behind facing execution. My main worries concerned my family." He said bringing up his mother, Louisa and his four siblings. "They're the ones who would be left behind. I tried to take things one day at a time. I've worked at accepting my responsibilities for the actions that brought me here. It's helped me accept my fate.".

Although the families of Jennifer and Elizabeth were satisfied with Villarreal and Perez being forced to spend the rest of their lives in Prison, they were a bit disappointed that they were removed Villarreal and Perez from the death row and Villarreal also expressed self awareness and understood how they felt. "If my children were dead... I would feel the same way." Said Villarreal. He also said he wanted to spend the rest of his life helping people while he was in prison and said he didn't want to waste his life there. "I can't see myself in prison just wasting time, I would like to use my experience to help others. Maybe in a youth program or something.".

Efrain Perez, the other death row inmate whose sentence was changed to life in lrison, has never expressed any remorse for any of the victims or their friends and families. He was described by the prosecution as "a predatory animal" as he was known for having very bad behavior, as he stabbed a prison guard with a homemade spear in 1999. Even worse however, Perez was also responsible for another murder that happened 6 months before the murders of Jennifer and Elizabeth. On December 4th 1992, Perez shot two men named Jose Ariel Acosta and his cousin, 36 year old Jose Arellano. Arellano was shot in the arm and thankfully survived, but Acosta died instantly. Perez immediately fled the scene and no evidence was found linking him to the murder. It wasn't until after he was caught for the murders of Jennifer and Elizabeth when he confessed to murdering Jose Acosta as well.

Raul Villarreal will become eligible for parole on September 20th 2029 and Efrain Perez will both become eligible for parole on October 10th 2029. The youngest member of the gang, Venancio Medellin, has been denied parole 5 times, with his latest being in 2020. Medellin's next parole hearing is scheduled to be in 2025. If Venancio Medellin serves his full 40 year prison sentence, he will officially be released on June 29th 2033 when his sentence is completed. In the end, none of the remaining murderers will be out of prison anytime soon.

The Story Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena is already devastating enough to be one of the biggest and worst crime stories in History, but what makes the story even more impactful, was not only did it shock and terrify the entire world, but it also changed The Justice System forever. If this case never happened, The Justice System would not be what it is today. Not only did this case change The Justice System greatly, but also society as a whole. This devastating case proved to the world that gang violence was a real serious problem, and it could happen to anyone no matter what. This case also made people reconsider executing immigrants from different countries, which no one thought was a big deal until this case happened. This case also allowed families of victims to talk to the killers of their loved ones in court and view their executions, which rarely happened before, but this case made it more mandatory. The brutality of this case led to many changes in not just The Justice System, but also society itself, which is why The Story Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena remains all the more impactful.

Although several people who communicated with Peter Cantu during his time in prison claimed he was remorseful and he thought he deserved to die because of his crimes, he remained completely silent, never apologizing for anything during his final moments with the families of his victims, before he was finally executed for good. At last, all three of the adults who raped, tortured, and killed, and took everything away from the families of Jennifer Ertman, Elizabeth Pena, and Patricia Lopez were no longer in their existence, and they could finally breath a sigh of relief that they were now out of their lives.
Even though they were grateful that the three killers were no longer alive, the families of Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Patricia thought the deaths and punishments the men got were "Too good for them". "Put it this way, I wish those three girls could've died the way they died. No pain. These girls went through an awful lot of pain when they died." Said Elizabeth's father, Adolpho Pena, who was wearing a white shirt with pictures of the two girls on it with the rest of the families.

Everyone agreed that Peter Cantu was the worst of the murders because he was the most dangerous, the most violent, the most troublesome, the leader of the gang, he made a very big impression on the other gang members who always followed his ways, and it was his decision to kill the three girls. If Cantu never existed, but even if the rest of his gang did, then maybe the three girls still would be alive because many of the gang's hobbies and the fate of the three girls heavily depended on Cantu himself.

When Jennifer Ertman's father, Randy was asked about Cantu's silence and Cantu himself in general, he said : "There's nothing he would've said to me that would've made any difference. He did many horrendous things and he deserved to die. And 17 years later, he finally died, not soon enough. 17 years is a long time to have something eating on you like that. We think about those girls everyday...".

Exactly 4 years after the three men were executed, on August 17th 2014, Randy Ertman passed away from Lung Cancer at the age of 62. The families of Jennifer And Elizabeth were deeply saddened by losing him, but they were also happy, knowing he would finally be reunited with his loving daughter and her best friend in Heaven.

Two memorial benches were placed in the park where the two girls were killed on that dreadful night. There were also several memorial services for the girls. In 2008, the same year Jose Medellin was executed, a book about this case called "Pure Murder" was written and published by author Corey Mitchell, and became a huge success. For the Story's 30th Anniversary in 2023, two documentaries were made about this story. No matter how horrific and heartbreaking this case was, Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena will always be loved and remembered for being the happiest and friendly students they were, forever and ever, and they will always rest in eternal peace, while living on in everyone's hearts.

To this day, 31 years later, The Story Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena remains as one of the worst crime cases in all of History, not only because of how horrifying and sad it was, but also because of its significance. This is the most important crime story in my opinion for all those reasons, and it will never be forgotten.
The end...