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. Ohio Parole Board members are scheduled to hold a Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, hearing to consider arguments for and against mercy for Ronald Phillips, the first inmate scheduled for execution under the state's revised lethal injection method that uses a three-drug combination. His execution is scheduled Jan. 12, 2017. (Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP, File) (The Associated Press)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio's parole board is hearing arguments for and against mercy for the first death row 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.
A hearing before the Ohio Parole Board is scheduled for Thursday.
Phillips' attorneys have asked the board in a written filing to spare Phillips, calling the case tragic but arguing that Phillips as an individual is not one of the worst of the worst offenders.
Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh says Phillips has consistently blamed others for his actions and it's time for justice to be served.
The board rejected clemency in 2013 for Phillips.
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