Why lawyer defends child killers on death row no matter what

Perth Now

3 days ago

Maria DeLiberato, an American death row lawyer, has spent nearly two decades fighting for inmates facing execution, including those convicted of the most heinous crimes.
Currently representing six clients awaiting their fate, Ms DeLiberato told Lad Bible she is driven by cases like that of Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin, a Honduran immigrant who spent 14 years in prison and 10 years on death row before being acquitted through new DNA evidence.
'Clemente's case probably solidified it for me the most, in terms of how shockingly wrong we get it,' she said. Ms DeLiberato also highlights the disproportionate application of the death penalty to people of colour.
Making her move from Miami to Tampa in 2006, she has lost clients along the way, including paedophile Larry Eugene Mann, who abducted and killed 10-year-old Elisa Nelson. She also defended Jerry Correll who murdered four family members.
Both were executed by lethal injection. Despite this, Ms DeLiberato remains committed to defending her clients, acknowledging, 'Even if you felt like the death penalty was somehow appropriate from a pure vengeance standpoint, and I certainly get the desire for revenge, but that's all it is.'
Initially opposed to the death penalty on moral and religious grounds, Ms DeLiberato's research revealed the criminal justice system's many failures.
She spoke out amid a rise in US executions in 2025, with 26 so far, surpassing totals from 2024 and 2023, according to the British anti-death penalty group Reprieve.
Concerning reports of botched executions, she explained that Florida's use of midazolam feels like 'they were torturing people' and raised similar concerns for drugs like etomidate.
On other methods such as lethal gas and firing squads, she stated, 'we're just talking about premeditated murder and brutality.'
Calling the fight for abolition 'terrifying and frustrating,' Ms DeLiberato noted that many people are reluctant to oppose the death penalty because 'it's human nature to be like 'well, the victim got worse than whatever they got'.'
She also addressed difficulties, claiming lethal injection drugs are sourced via black markets, highlighting pharmaceutical companies' refusal to supply states for executions.
'Everything is so secret, so it's really difficult to know,' she said.
Sharing a personal perspective, she added, 'I've been under anaesthesia and I always ask them, what are you giving me and why?' She emphasised that people don't euthanise animals using these drugs.
Ms DeLiberato criticised lethal injection as the most 'dishonest' execution method—deceptively humane but often painful. Comparing it to a firing squad, she acknowledged its brutal terror despite a quicker death.
Reflecting on losing a client, she recalled murderous inmate Larry Eugene Mann writing a letter to be opened after his death, in which he thanked her for her tireless defence.
'Losing him was incredibly challenging and changing, it was so sad and senseless,' she said. 'He basically wrote it saying if I'm alive, great, if I'm not, thank you for the work that you did, telling us to hang in there and stay strong for everyone on death row.'
Although she works alongside other lawyers across the US, DeLiberato said there is 'a different sense of pressure and grief' when losing a client.
Her ongoing commitment reflects a belief in fighting 'to the wire' against a flawed death penalty system.
It comes as a Tennessee death row inmate, Byron Black, 69, cried out in pain during his execution on August 5 after the state declined to deactivate his implanted heart defibrillator, despite concerns raised about possible suffering.
Black was executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters, Latoya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6.
As the lethal drugs began flowing, Black appeared visibly distressed, multiple witnesses reported, according to the Daily Mail.
He was heard sighing heavily and breathing heavily, he then repeatedly lifted his head and told his spiritual advisor, 'It's hurting so bad,' before passing away about ten minutes after the process began.
She then responded: 'I'm so sorry. Just listen to my voice,' before comforting him by singing. Byron Black 1989 Credit: X
Legal experts say this is the first documented case where an inmate was put to death with an active defibrillator still in place, raising questions about the risk of repeated electrical shocks as his heart failed.