At first glance, the calm rolling, southern Ohio hills do not seem to be hiding anything away. However, hidden amongst the beautiful hilltops beyond the sight of the naked eye, there stands a stark contrast – the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, where Alton Coleman was executed at 10 a.m. today by lethal injection.
A white van drove out of the electrical fenced building, holding Coleman’s body. A police car followed behind, as they went down state Route 738.
Coleman is the fourth man to be executed since 1999. He is the second man to be executed this year, after the execution of John Byrd Feb. 19, 2002.
Coleman had tried to appeal his case by asking for executive clemency to get life in prison instead of the death sentence.
Dale Baich, Coleman’s attorney, said during a clemency hearing held April 16 that Coleman had suffered brain damage when he was born due to his mom’s drug habits. He also argued that the environment in which Coleman was raised was detrimental to his behavior development.
The parole board disagreed with Baich’s claims, rejected Coleman’s executive clemency and recommended to Gov. Bob Taft that Coleman be executed. In a news statement, which Taft released earlier this week, Taft said that he agreed with the board’s unanimous decision. Outside the building, a group of protestors from groups such as Interfaith Justice and Peace Center and the Ohioans Stop Execution stood carrying signs that asked for the mercy of Coleman’s life.
A small display was set outside as well that listed all of the death row inmates that the state of Ohio had executed. A description was also given of the different methods of execution, such as the electric chair and lethal injection. Trays of candles lay beside the cardboard displays. Andrea Stiles, from Mason, Oh., was one of the protesters who had been standing outside since 8:30 a.m. Stiles said that she knew of the horrendous crimes that Coleman committed.
“I know what he did was horrible,” she said. “I don’t think he should see the light of day.”
Although Coleman is guilty of the crimes, Stiles believes that nobody deserves the death penalty.
“I came because I oppose the death penalty,” she said. “I don’t feel it is our decision. It continues our cycle of violence.”
Chuck Risen of Middletown, Oh., another protestor, agreed with Stiles. “God is the ultimate judge,” he said.
Even the state has had a hard time deciding whether the death penalty is appropriate, Stiles said.
According to the Office of Rehabilitation and Corrections web site, the death penalty the United States Supreme Court had found the death penalty to be unconstitutional. The Ohio Death Penalty law had been revised in 1974, only to be rejected again – this time by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1978.
The current capital punishment statute that lawmakers now use was not enacted until 1981. Due to governors’ granting clemencies and problems with the law, no one was executed between 1963 and 1999. In 1999 Wilford Berry, known as the “volunteer” had been executed.
Coleman was admitted into the institution Oct. 5, 1988. He was executed for the death of Marlene Walters. On July 13, 1984, Coleman, and his “helper in crime,” Debra Brown, deceived the Walters’ into thinking that they wanted to buy the Walters’ trailer.
After entering the Walters’ household, Coleman and Brown ransacked the house, beat the Walters, tied them up in the basement and left them for dead. Harry Walters survived the incident, but Marlene was not as fortunate.
Marlene Walters was not Coleman’s only victim. In 1984, Coleman had gone on a multi-state crime spree. He is convicted of eight murders and was on death row in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
The pattern was clear, Michael Allen, the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, had said during Coleman’s parole clemency hearing. Coleman would rape a young girl and then attempt to murder her. Afterwards, he would steal a car and kill the drivers. Later the car would be abandoned at his next crime stop.
