Death Penalty News

Kentucky prosecutors have dropped capital charges against 2 defendants who had challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty for crimes committed by offenders younger than 21 years old.  On April 21, 2021, prosecutors announced that they will no longer seek the death penalty against Efrain Diaz, Jr. and Justin Delone Smith, 2 of the 3 adolescents accused of killing University of Kentucky student Jonathan Krueger in 2015. A third co-defendant, Roman Gonzalez, is not eligible for the death penalty because he was under 18 at the time of the crime. Diaz and Smith were 20 and 18, respectively, at the time of the crime. When Fayette County prosecutors indicated they would seek the death penalty, the defendants’ lawyers sought to bar its use against them because of their age.  In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Thompson v. Oklahoma that imposing the death penalty on offenders who were younger than age 16 at the time of the offense constituted cruel and unusual punishme...

A Kentucky judge has struck down the state's death penalty protocol as unconstitutional because it does not explicitly prohibit the execution of prisoners with intellectual disabilities. Ruling on a motion brought by a dozen inmates on death row, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled Tuesday that the regulation is invalid because it doesn't automatically suspend an execution when the state corrections department’s internal review shows a condemned person has an intellectual disability. Granting a motion filed by the Department of Public Advocacy, Shepherd said the state's rules are flawed because they would allow a prisoner with intellectual disabilities to be executed if he or she declines further appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court “categorically prohibits the execution of intellectually disabled persons,” Shepherd noted. Assistant Public Advocate David Barron said all executions in Kentucky already had been stayed because of questions about the sta...

The trial for the alleged murderers of the former Kernel photo editor is delayed while a decision is made about the constitutionality of the death penalty for those under 21. Efrain Diaz, Justin Smith and Roman Gonzalez allegedly killed Jonathan Krueger in April of 2015. Gonzalez was 17 at the time of the crime and was automatically ineligible for the death penalty, but the other 2 men were over 18. In September, however, Judge Ernesto Scorsone took the death penalty off the table for Diaz and Smith as well, said prosecutor Andrea Mattingly Williams. Scorsone made the decision related to the case of Travis Bredhold, who is now 21 but was just over 18 when he was charged with murder and robbery, according to the Herald-Leader. Fayette County Commonwealth's Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn, who is the prosecutor in the Krueger trial along with Williams, made a statement after the judge's decision in August. She said she will appeal Scorsone's order "beca...