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| Ohio Death Chamber |
An Ohio child killer scheduled for execution this week has asked that his organs be donated to help his ailing mother and sister.
Lawyers for death row inmate Ronald Phillips say in a letter to the Ohio prisons agency that Phillips would also be willing to donate organs to other individuals.
The letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press says Philips wants as many people as possible to benefit from his death. His mother is on dialysis, and his sister has a heart condition.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction did not immediately respond to a message from the AP seeking comment.
The 40-year-old Phillips faces execution Wednesday by a never-tried, 2-drug combination of a sedative and painkiller.
He was sentenced to die for raping and killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Akron in 1993.
Source: Associated Press, November 11, 2013
Ohio death row inmate denied wish to donate organs
COLUMBUS, Ohio • A condemned child killer will not be allowed to donate organs to his ailing mother and sister before his execution this week.
Ohio prisons officials say the unprecedented request by Ronald Phillips to donate a kidney and his heart could not be accommodated. Security concerns and logistical challenges were cited, among other reasons.
The department says it will be up to his family whether the organs are donated after his death.
Phillips has said through his attorneys that the request was not a delay tactic, but rather an attempt to make a final gesture for good.
Cleveland attorney Tim Sweeney said Tuesday that Phillips was hopeful his case would go another way and so had not proposed donating his organs earlier.
A prisons spokeswoman says the department extensively considered his request.
Source: Associated Press, November 12, 2013
