Ohio Death Row Inmates Claim Lethal Injection Unconstitutional

The order by Judge Gregory Frost, a U.S. District Court Judge, brings the number of inmates to 15 who are claiming that lethal injection may cause a prisoner to suffer during an execution. The inmates claim that this would be violating the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

California and Missouri have put all executions on hold due to similar lawsuits. In Delaware, an injection lawsuit was extended to all 18 inmates on death row.

The 2004 Ohio lawsuit was brought by Richard Cooey who was sentenced to die for raping and murdering two female University of Akron students in 1986. Richard Cooey of Summit County, age 40, was incarcerated 12/10/86 and is in the Ohio State Penitentiary, Youngstown, Ohio. Richard Cooey was charged with the kidnapping, rape, robbery, assault, and murder of Wendy Offredo and Dawn McCreery.

The remaining inmates who are claiming lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment and why they are on death row.
Johnnie Baston; 33, of Lucas County was incarcerated 3/21/1995. Baston is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on robbery and murder charges. Baston was sent to death row for the 1994 murder of a Korean shopkeeper, Chong Mah, in Toledo.

Kenneth Biros; 49, of Trumbull County was incarcerated 10/30/1991. Biros is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on attempted rape, robbery, and murder charges. Biros was convicted of murdering 22-year-old Tami Engstrom of Hubbard. Biros spread her dismembered remains through parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Romell Broom of Cuyahoga County has an October 18, 2007 execution date. Romell Broom is 51 and was incarcerated 10/24/85. He is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on kidnapping, rape, robbery, assault, and murder charges. Broom abducted 14 year old Tryna Middleton in Cleveland at knifepoint. Tryna was walking home with friends from a Shaw High School football game on Sept. 21, 1984. Broom raped Tryna and stabbed her seven times.

Clarence Carter; 45, of Hamilton County was incarcerated 8/02/1989. Carter is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on robbery, assault, and murder charges. Carter was convicted of beating Johnny Allen at the jail annex of the Hamilton County Courthouse on Dec. 28, 1988. Authorities said the two men had argued over a TV set. Carter was in the jail waiting to be sentenced on prior charges of aggravated murder.

Nicole Diar; 31, of Lorain County was incarcerated 11/08/2005. Diar is in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio. Diar was charged with assault, arson, and murder. Nicole Diar was convicted of murdering Jacob, her 4 year old son. Diar poured gasoline on her 4 year old son's body and set the house on fire to get rid of the evidence.

Jason Getsy; 32, of Trumbull County was incarcerated 9/13/1996. Getsy is now in the Ohio State Penitentiary on burglary and murder charges. Getsy was 19 years old when he was hired by John Santine to murder a business rival. They wound up killing the rival's wife instead.

Jerome Henderson; 48, of Hamilton County was incarcerated 8/12/1985. Henderson is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on attempted rape, burglary, and murder charges. Henderson's murder victim was Mary Acoff of Cincinnati.

Jeffrey Hill; 43, of Hamilton County was incarcerated 7/17/1992. Hill is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on robbery, burglary and murder charges. Hill stabbed to death his 61-year-old paralyzed mother, Emma Hill, in her Cincinnati apartment in 1991.

Kevin Keith; 44, of Crawford County was incarcerated 6/01/1994. Keith is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on murder charges. Kevin Keith was convicted of murdering Marichell Chatman, her 4-year-old daughter, Marchae Chatman, and her aunt, Linda Chatman. Keith shot them execution style.

Jonathan Monroe; 34, of Franklin County was incarcerated 12/03/1999. Monroe is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on kidnapping, robbery, assault, burglary, and murder charges. Jonathan Monroe was convicted of torturing and murdering 2 women; Travinna Simmons and Deccarla Quincy. This took place in Columbus in April 1996.

Billy Slagle; 39, of Cuyahoga County was incarcerated 5/13/1988. Slagle is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on robbery, burglary and murder charges. Slagle killed Mari Anne Pope by stabbing her 17 times with scissors. Slagle was arrested on the scene covered in her blood. Mari Anne Pope died a few hours later.

John Spirko; 61, of Van Wert County was incarcerated 12/21/1982. Spirko is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on assault, kidnapping, and murder charges. Spirko was convicted of murdering Ohio postmaster Betty Jane Mottinger; she was stabbed more than a dozen times.

Arthur Tyler; 48, of Cuyahoga County was incarcerated 9/23/1983. Tyler is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on murder charges. Arthur Tyler was convicted in 1983 in the fatal shooting of a Cleveland produce vendor.

Mark Wiles; 44, of Portage and Summit Counties was incarcerated 2/14/1986. Wiles is in the Ohio State Penitentiary on burglary and murder charges. Wiles was convicted January 9, 1986 in the stabbing death of 15 year-old Mark Klima in his Rootstown home.

The Victims
Wendy Offredo, Dawn McCreery, Tami Engstrom, Tryna Middleton, and Mary Acoff were raped or it was attempted.
Tami Engstrom, Tryna Middleton, Emma Hill, Mari Anne Pope, Betty Jane Mottinger, and Mark Klima were stabbed.
Marichell Chatman, Marchae Chatman, Linda Chatman, and the Cleveland produce vendor were shot.
Travinna Simmons and Deccarla Quincy were tortured before they were murdered.

The Summary
Nineteen people are now dead because of the actions of these 15 convicted murderers. From 4 year old Jacob whose mother, Nicole Diar, burned his body to the paralyzed 61 year old mother of Jeffrey Hill, Emma Hill, whom he stabbed to death, not one of them had the chance to claim cruel and unusual punishment. This is not about whether you support or oppose the death penalty. This is about the absurdity that these 15 convicted murderers actually believe that they deserve to have their voices heard. These 15 convicted murderers knew the definition of cruel and unusual punishment when they committed the cruel and unusual crimes that landed them on death row in the first place. Not one of those cruel and unusual murders had anything to do with a needle.