Ohio carries out 1st execution following 3 years-plus delay
FILE – This undated file photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows death row inmate Ronald Phillips, convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in Akron, Ohio. In a brief filed Monday, July 24, 2017, at the U.S. Supreme Court, 15 pharmacology professors argue the impending execution of Phillips should be stopped on grounds that the sedative midazolam is incapable of inducing unconsciousness or preventing severe pain. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP, File)
LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Ohio has put to death a child killer in the state’s first execution in more than three years following a prolonged search for lethal drugs.
Ronald Phillips was executed Wednesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. He was sentenced to die for the 1993 rape and killing of Sheila Marie Evans, his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied his request for a stay to continue his appeals.
Phillips and other death row inmates unsuccessfully challenged the state’s new three-drug execution method, which includes a sedative used in some problematic executions in Ohio and elsewhere.
Phillips’ attorneys call the case tragic but had argued that Phillips was not one of the worst offenders.
Ohio last executed an inmate in January 2014.
