Like most people on death row, Gonzales experienced abuse and neglect as a child. His mother, who was 17 when he was born, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and turned Gonzales over to her parents, according to a petition for clemency, which the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected earlier this month. The first time Gonzales met his father was when he was 19 and they were both locked up in the county jail.
Starting at the age of 6, Gonzales was repeatedly sexually abused, including by a cousin. One of the few family members Gonzales felt close to, his aunt Loretta, was killed in a car accident when he was 15. He turned to cocaine and methamphetamine to cope with the grief, and dropped out of school, stealing and forging checks to pay for drugs.