Ohio Execution Stayed: Death Penalty Delayed for Man Who Raped 3-Year-Old After He Indicates Willingness to Donate Organs to Save Others
Ohio inmate Ronald Phillips has been granted a stay of execution so that medical experts can determine whether his organs can be donated to those in need. Phillips was scheduled to be executed on Thursday, Nov. 14, for raping and murdering his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in 1993.
"Ronald Phillips committed a heinous crime for which he will face the death penalty," Ohio Governor John Kasich told the press. "I realize this is a bit of uncharted territory for Ohio, but if another life can be saved by his willingness to donate his organs and tissues, then we should allow for that to happen."
Phillips wrote to the governor, requesting that his heart be given to his sister, who has a heart condition, and that his kidneys go to his mother, who suffers "from kidney disease" and is on dialysis. "But, even if his specific suggestions as to recipients cannot be honored, he is nonetheless willing to do whatever is necessary to enable as many people as possible to benefit from his death."
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The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction originally denied the request for donation, but Gov. Kasich overruled and ordered a stay of execution as medical experts investigate whether it is possible to retrieve the organs once Phillips receives the lethal injection.
According to Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Delaware death row inmate was allowed to donate a kidney to his mother while in prison; however, he was not close to his execution date like Phillips was.
"This step by the governor puts it into a more normal discussion of (how) an inmate, without any security problems, can help save another person and is that the right thing to do," Dieter told the Associated Press. "With 24 hours to go before an operation had to be carried out, it definitely gets in the way of that process. If the whole idea is to save a life, there's one life to be saved simply by not executing the person at all."
Phillips' execution has been rescheduled for July 2, 2014, Kasich said.
