COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday delayed three more death row inmates’ 2021 executions as the state’s unofficial death penalty moratorium continues. The announcement came days after DeWine said lethal injection is no longer an option for the state.
The Republican governor’s warrants of reprieve were issued for condemned prisoners Elwood Jones, Gregory Lott and Archie Dixon.
The reprieves moved Jones’ execution from April 21, 2021, to Dec. 6, 2023; Lott’s from May 27, 2021, to Feb. 15, 2024; and Dixon’s from June 23, 2021, to April 17, 2024.
Jones was sentenced to die for killing 67-year-old Rhoda Nathan in the Embassy Suites Hotel in Blue Ash in 1994. Lott was sentenced to die for killing 82-year-old John McGrath, who died 10 days after Lott set him on fire in East Cleveland during a 1986 break-in. Dixon was sentenced to die for killing his roommate, 22-year-old Christopher Hammer, at a park in Toledo in 1993.
DeWine also issued reprieves in September, June and April.
DeWine told The Associated Press on Dec. 8 that lawmakers must choose a different method of capital punishment before any inmates can be put to death in the future, and it’s “pretty clear” there won’t be any executions next year.
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