01-04-2025
AG says Ohio's death row report riddled with frustrations
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)—The Ohio Attorney General's Office released its Capital Crimes Report — it's a snapshot of Ohio's death row. The 2024 numbers show that not much has changed, a fact that does not sit well with Attorney General David Yost and Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins.
'The only thing that has changed? The killers got a year older,' Yost said in a news release containing the latest numbers. 'There needs to be some real progress. Until that happens, Ohio cannot fulfill its promise of justice.'
The 2024 Capital Crimes Report shows 11 Valley defendants on death row:
Stanley Adams – Trumbull
Sean Carter – Trumbull
John Drummond – Mahoning
Scott Group – Mahoning
Danny Lee Hill – Trumbull
Lance Hundley – Mahoning
Nathaniel Jackson – Trumbull
David Martin – Trumbull
Donna Roberts (the only woman in Ohio on death row) – Trumbull
Willie Jean Wilkes Jr. – Mahoning
Andre Williams – Trumbull
2024-Capital-Crimes-Annual-Report-WEBDownload
There are 49 death sentences in the northeast region of Ohio, which includes Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Seven are our of Trumbull County and five out of Mahoning County.
Danny Lee Hill has been on death row the longest in our region, having been convicted in 1986, followed by the case of Andre Williams out of Mahoning County, who was convicted in 1989. Hill has filed more than 25 appeals since he was sentenced to die nearly 40 years ago. He has an appeal pending right now.
The report shows that the average time a defendant sits on death row in Ohio has increased from about 10 years in 2003 to about 18 years in 2019. While the cost of Ohio's death penalty system has not been determined, according to the report, the cost of a death penalty case can exceed the cost of life imprisonment by as much as $1 million to $3 million per case.
'That's a stunning amount of money to spend on a program that doesn't achieve its purpose,' Yost said in the report. 'That's not to say it's too much money.'
Those who oppose the death penalty want it abolished altogether. Those who support it want it to be fair, timely and effective.
'Neither side is getting what it wants,' the report read.
As of Dec. 31, 2024, 88 death sentences have been removed by judicial action, resulting in resentencing or release. Most were removed because of legal errors, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, Brady violations, juror errors, or appellate court determinations that the aggravating circumstances of the crime did not outweigh the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. (Note: Rather than show a flaw in Ohio's capital-punishment system, these removals show the appellate process working as it should to prevent an injustice.)
The report also noted that exonerated and innocent are not the same thing. Innocent is being free of guilt, while exonerated is being legally cleared of wrongdoing.
The holdup in conducting scheduled executions in Ohio is the state's inability to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injection, the only legal means of execution in the state. Because of that, there has been a moratorium on executions, and Governor DeWine keeps postponing them, pushing execution dates farther down the road as the state legislature mulls over other means of carrying out the death penalty, which has to be approved by Ohio lawmakers.
Most recently, Yost and Watkins have appealed to the federal government, notably newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking for help with Ohio's death penalty conundrum.
House Bill 36 would allow death by nitrogen hypoxia, a method both Yost and Watkins want to see happen. The bill passed by both the House and Senate and now sits on Governor DeWine's desk.
On March 18, Louisiana used nitrogen to perform the state's first execution in 15 years. Since January 2024, Alabama has carried out four death sentences with nitrogen.
In addition, Yost says that President Trump directed Bondi to ensure states have access to the drugs needed for lethal injection.
'There are two paths available to Ohio to enforce the laws on our books,' Yost said. 'Pick one.'
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