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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

Ohio inmate seeking to donate kidney to ailing mom wants execution delay; 1st request rejected

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A condemned inmate seeking to donate a kidney to his mother before his execution is requesting another reprieve after Ohio rejected his 1st organ donation request.

Attorneys for 40-year-old Ronald Phillips want the execution delayed until 2016. They say by then, Phillips' 66-year-old mother either will achieve necessary weight loss to have transplant surgery or will likely succumb to complications of kidney disease.

The state denied Phillips' 1st request, saying he didn't have time to undergo surgery and recuperate for his July execution. It was rescheduled to September after a judge ordered a 2 1/2-month moratorium on Ohio executions to allow arguments over new lethal injection procedures.

Phillips was sentenced to die for killing a 3-year-old girl in Akron in 1993.

Source: Associated Press, May 30, 2014
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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 
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