CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — "Just know that I fought a good fight, and I am ready to go. I am ready, warden," John Henry Ramirez said moments before he was executed on October 5, 2022, in the Polunsky Unit of the Department of Criminal Justice in Livingston, Texas.
Ramirez's last words would later inspire a short documentary directed by Smriti Mundhra.
The documentary 'I Am Ready, Warden' is now up for a 2025 Academy Award and explores the world of redemption and how Ramirez's atonement developed during his time in prison.
'I Am Ready, Warden,' was produced by Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Keri Blakinger, who first met Ramirez while visiting another inmate on death row. Blakinger says she thought Ramirez had an interesting story to tell because, unlike most murderers, Ramirez admitted his guilt.
"I think that’s actually what made it so interesting and so powerful as a film because there’s a lot of stories in reporting that explore narratives of people who are innocent and wrongfully convicted. And it’s easier to get sympathy for them and get readers and viewers to care. But I think this gave us a chance to explore ideas of redemption that you can’t explore the same way with someone who’s not admitting guilt," stated Keri Blakinger in an online interview with Texas Standard.
The short film, directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Smriti Mundhra for MTV Documentary Films, focuses on the days leading up to Ramirez's execution as he sought forgiveness from his victim’s son.
Ramirez was convicted of capital murder in 2008 and was sentenced to lethal injection for the stabbing death of Pablo Castro in the parking lot of a convenience store in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ramirez faced execution twice before, in 2017 and 2020. Both times, his executions were canceled — due to an attorney swap and the coronavirus, respectively. Castro's son, Aaron, told KRIS 6 News in 2022 that the continued delays were unnecessary and it was Ramirez's “time to go.”
“Honestly, if he [Ramirez] wants a priest to bless him before he's sent off, by all means, go ahead. That doesn't affect me one bit,” Aaron Castro, who was 14 when his father was murdered, said to KRIS. “What affects me is why this process continues to get delayed time and time again.”
Mundhra, the director of 'I Am Ready, Warden,' says that after she played the final documentary for the first time for Aaron Castro [Pablo Castro's son], he told her he had found a lot of healing in sharing his family's story with the world.
"He's had power over me for such a long time, and I don't like to admit that, but he has, and I want it over with," said Fernando Castro, Pablo Castro's other son, in a 2022 interview with KRIS 6.
'I Am Ready, Warden' is now streaming on Paramount+, the Roku Channel, and Amazon Prime.
The Academy Awards will be held on March 2 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
