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, and scheduled for execution in January 2017. Ohio plans to resume executions in January 2017 with a new three-drug combination, an attorney representing the state told a federal judge Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP, File) (The Associated Press)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio has scheduled a clemency hearing for the first inmate scheduled for execution next year under a new process for putting condemned prisoners to death.
Ronald Phillips is set to die Jan. 12 for the 1993 rape and killing of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.
The state prisons agency on Tuesday scheduled a Dec. 1 hearing during which Phillips' attorneys can ask the Ohio Parole Board for mercy. Republican Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sik) will have the final decision.
Ohio's prisons agency said Monday it plans to carry out at least three executions next year with a three-drug combination of drugs similar to a method it used several years ago.
In 2013, the parole board voted unanimously against clemency for Phillips, saying his crime was "among the worst of the worst."
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