(WKBN) – Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins spoke in support of the state’s death penalty during a Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Watkins, representing the state Prosecuting Attorneys Association, spoke at the state’s capitol in Columbus to speak out against Senate Bill 101, which would abolish the death penalty in Ohio.
Senate Bill 101 is sponsored by Senators Nickie Antonio and Stephen Huffman, who argue that the death penalty has done more harm than good, including imprisoning 11 Ohioans who were later exonerated. They also say the death penalty has been used disproportionately against Black people, who made up nearly 42% of prisoners on death row, the Death Penalty Information Center found in 2021.
Watkins admitted that the law could be reformed — executions have been on hold in the state due to the lack of access to lethal injection drugs, for instance. In the past, Watkins has spoken in favor of pursuing other methods of execution, such as nitrogen gas, which has been explored in other states.
But Watkins pointed to cases like Danny Lee Hill’s, saying the families of victims in those cases have been left “twisting in the wind for years waiting for justice to be served.” He spoke of Miriam Fife, the mother of Raymond Fife, who has been waiting for almost 40 years for justice in her son’s brutal killing.
Due to delays, the execution of Hill has been pushed back to July 22, 2026.
“Miriam Fife has told me, ‘I guess I will now have to live until 2026,’ ” Watkins said.
He added that any effort to appeal the death penalty law should be put on the ballot.
“I don’t believe that the citizens of Ohio should not have that big stick in its arsenal unless the people vote on it,” Watkins said.
As part of his testimony, Watkins also urged President-Elect Donald Trump to execute the Boston Marathon bomber as one of the first acts of his new administration.
“I expect and I hope that the Boston Marathon bomber, whose death sentence and conviction was fought for by the Biden administration, that our new president will do what he did when he was president before… carry out this execution.
“The two hundred some victims, the three deaths. Do you know there were 17 people who lost their limbs? God forbid, that we don’t have a church or synagogue hit in this state,” Watkins said.
