FUGITIVE DEATH ROW INMATE CAPTURED MILES FROM MEXICAN BORDER
Isabela Del Toro taken into custody after desert shootout; Florida Supreme Court rejects final appeal and schedules September execution
August 19, 2026 — Texas
[PHOTO: ISABELA DEL TORO / ROCKVILLE PENITENTIARY]
Isabela Del Toro, RCK25689, pictured in a Rockville Penitentiary booking photograph. Authorities announced Wednesday morning that the escaped Florida death-row inmate had been recaptured near the Texas-Mexico border.
After an interstate manhunt that stretched from Florida to the deserts of South Texas, escaped death-row inmate Isabela Del Toro is once again in custody.
In the early morning hours of August 19, local sheriff's deputies operating near the Texas-Mexico border spotted a woman matching Del Toro's description at a gas station. Investigators say she was observed entering the rear cab of a semi-truck shortly afterward.
The sighting was quickly relayed to federal authorities.
Local law enforcement and the FBI established interception points along several routes investigators believed the truck could use to approach the Mexican border. Authorities say the vehicle came within only a few miles of a border crossing before the occupants apparently became aware of the developing police operation.
According to preliminary accounts, Del Toro and several men later identified by authorities as suspected Mexican cartel sicarios abandoned the truck and fled on foot through the desert toward the Rio Grande.
What followed was a brief but violent confrontation.
Authorities say gunfire was exchanged between officers and the suspected cartel gunmen. By the conclusion of the shootout, the armed men were dead and Del Toro had been captured alive.
Her surrender was reportedly anything but peaceful.
Officials at the scene say Del Toro spat at officers, kicked at deputies and repeatedly struggled while being placed in handcuffs. After being temporarily secured inside a patrol cruiser, she allegedly kicked out one of the vehicle's windows.
No officers were reported killed during Del Toro's capture.
FINAL APPEAL REJECTED
Within hours of the announcement that Del Toro had been apprehended, another development arrived from Florida.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected Del Toro's final appeal, clearing one of the last major legal obstacles standing between the condemned prisoner and her sentence.
Her execution has now been scheduled for September 22.
The decision represents a devastating reversal for Del Toro's defense team, which had continued attempting to overturn or delay her death sentence even as authorities searched for her.
Florida's governor responded to the ruling and Del Toro's capture by announcing that he would reject any request for executive clemency presented on her behalf.
He also said he intends to personally attend the execution.
“Ms. Del Toro represents a clear and present danger to the people of Florida. Her time behind bars has been spent doing all that she can to avoid the full weight of her punishment. Now, it's about damn time that she faces the music.”
The unusually forceful statement reflects growing anger surrounding Del Toro's escape and the criminal network authorities allege helped facilitate it.
DEFENSE VOWS TO KEEP FIGHTING
Despite this, Ms. Del Toro’s lawyers have repeated their intentions to puruse every possible legal option to ensure that Ms. Del Toro doesn’t face this “aberration of justice, that is the Rockville electric chair.” “It’s cruel and unusual.”