LEBANON, Ohio — An inmate who was spared from execution last week told a newspaper he felt relief for his mother, because his death would have broken her heart.
Shawn Hawkins said his mother already has lost two children: one daughter to a childhood illness and another to a gunshot.
Hawkins made the comments during an interview with The Columbus Dispatch at a prison in southwest Ohio on Tuesday, the day he was supposed to have died by lethal injection for a 1989 double killing in the Cincinnati area. Gov. John Kasich granted mercy a week ago, saying details of the case were "frustratingly unclear."
The governor ordered that Hawkins spend life in prison with no chance of getting out, a fate Hawkins calls a "harsh reality." His attorney is appealing for a new trial.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
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