The Ohio Parole Board unan­i­mous­ly rec­om­mend­ed that Jeffrey Hill’s death sen­tence be com­mut­ed to life in prison with the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. Hill, who is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on March 3, was con­vict­ed of mur­der­ing his moth­er while under the influ­ence of drugs. The parole board not­ed the ​“com­pelling and unan­i­mous opin­ion” of the vic­tim’s fam­i­ly that her son and killer should not be exe­cut­ed. The board said, ​“They have suf­fered tremen­dous loss, and exe­cu­tion would add fur­ther to their suf­fer­ing.” In a let­ter to a local paper’s edi­tor last month, the victim’s broth­er and Hill’s uncle, Eddie Sanders, pled for clemen­cy. ​“For 18 years, we have griev­ed Emma’s pass­ing,” Sanders wrote. ​“As a fam­i­ly, we have gone through enough. Executing Jeffrey will not bring Emma back or negate our suf­fer­ing. We already have suf­fered through the bur­ial of a dear loved one. Our fam­i­ly hopes the state of Ohio hon­ors Emma’s wish­es and does not force us to bury another.” 

Hamilton County Prosecutor, Joseph Deters, announced he will no longer push for the exe­cu­tion giv­en the parole board’s rec­om­men­da­tion and family’s wish­es. ​“I would have pre­ferred he stayed in jail the rest of his life,” Deters said. ​“We’ve done our job. Part of the law says this is some­thing the gov­er­nor can do.” Ohio Governor Ted Strickland will make the final deter­mi­na­tion on clemen­cy.

(A. Johnson, ​“Parole board favors clemen­cy for man who stabbed his mom to death,” Columbus Dispatch, February 9, 2009). See Victims and Clemency.

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