Ohio executes William Garner, who unintentionally killed 5 children in a fire he set to destroy evidence of burglary

Commute the death sentence of William Garner!

We, the undersigned, together with the family and friends of William Garner, urge Governor Strickland to commute William’s death sentence.
Garner was convicted for setting a fire that killed five children.  The following are factors that exist in Garner’s case that warrant consideration by Governor Strickland:
Garner’s IQ is estimated at 76 and his attorneys have argued that he is mentally retarded and received an inadequate education. Garner’s low intelligence made it impossible for him to comprehend his Miranda rights, which include warnings about the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer.
We deeply sympathize with the family and friends of the victims, but we respectfully offer that another death will neither heal nor resolve this tragedy.
Action petitioned for:  We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge Governor Strickland to commute the sentence of William Garner to life without parole.
I urge Governor Strickland to commute William’s death sentence.
Garner was convicted for setting a fire that killed five children.  The following are factors that exist in Garner’s case that warrant consideration by Governor Strickland:
•    Garner’s IQ is estimated at 76 and his attorneys have argued that   he is mentally retarded and received an inadequate education.
•    Garner’s low intelligence made it impossible for him to comprehend his Miranda rights, which include warnings about the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer.
I deeply sympathize with the family and friends of the victims, but respectfully offer that another death will neither heal nor resolve this tragedy.

Killer executed, but when isn't certain

Calling of death delayed for man who killed 5 kids in 1992.

LUCASVILLE, Ohio - William Garner may have been ready to go, but his body wasn't.

The Cincinnati man who killed five children by setting an apartment fire to cover up a burglary succumbed to a lethal dose of thiopental sodium at 10:38 a.m. yesterday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

But Garner, 37, wasn't pronounced dead until after an unusual 10-minute delay, during which a curtain shielded his body from the view of witnesses and the media in the prison Death House and an ancillary site.

Ernie L. Moore, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said later that when the curtain was pulled - usually signaling the end of an execution and the announcement of the time of death - the coroner said he heard "faint heart sounds" even though there were "no other life signs."

Garner was not dead, even though the fatal chemical had been flowing into his veins for nine minutes.

The unexpected development triggered a five-minute wait under prison protocol, Moore said. At that point, behind the curtain, Garner's body was re-checked for a heartbeat. This time there was none; the curtain was opened, and the execution was over.

Prison officials said they may re-examine the procedure for determining when the curtain is pulled and death is determined.

Rod Mack, the lone survivor of the fire on Jan. 26, 1992, watched Garner's execution, as did the parents of several of the dead children. So many family members wanted to see Garner die that prison officials set up a room where three witnesses watched the execution on closed-circuit television.

About 10:20 a.m., as the execution began, a storm that had been hanging over the southern Ohio hills was unleashed. There were several loud claps of thunder, and a heavy rain began pelting the prison roof.

Reading from a rambling hand-written statement, Garner said he was "heartily sorry ... my carelessness caused a great lost (sic) to many and if my flesh gives you all some kind of peace, I want that for you."

He thanked a long list of people, including the state of Ohio, then said, "I'm free, thank God almighty, I'm free now."

None of the victims' family members spoke to the media afterward, but Lisa Ross, Garner's sister, said her brother "was at peace. He was ready to go."

Ross said "accidents happen" and that she hopes people can forgive her brother.

Police and court records tell a very different story about a man who tried to set fires in three places and stole the telephone - all the while knowing there were six children in the apartment. Garner even got one girl a glass of water and watched TV with her for a while.

Five of the children died of smoke inhalation: Deondra Freeman, 10; Richard Gaines, 11; Markeca and Mykkila Mason, 11 and 8, respectively; and Denitra Satterwhite, 12.

Mack, who was 13 at the time, escaped by jumping out a window.

Records show Garner found a purse belonging to Addie F. Mack in the emergency room of a Cincinnati hospital. After locating her address, Garner took a cab to the apartment, stole her television, VCR, telephone and boom box, then tried to cover his tracks by setting fire to the couch and two other spots in the apartment.

Garner ate nearly all of his last meal, which included a porterhouse steak, fried shrimp, barbecued ribs, a large salad, potato wedges, onion rings, sweet potato pie, chocolate ice cream and Hawaiian Punch to drink.

He was the sixth Ohioan executed this year and the 39th since capital punishment resumed in 1999.

Ohio executes man who killed 5 children in 1992 fire he set to destroy evidence of burglary

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — An Ohio man said he was "heartily sorry" for his carelessness before he was executed Tuesday for the murders of five children in a 1992 Cincinnati apartment fire he set in an attempt to destroy evidence of a burglary.

William Garner, 37, died at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, 18 minutes after the lethal injection began.

As he lay on the execution table, Garner held a dreadlock of hair from a female friend and read a mostly inaudible lengthy final statement from notebook paper held by the execution team leader. He thanked several people as well as the state of Ohio.

"I'm heartily sorry," he said. "God bless everyone who has been robbed in this procedure. I thought I'd never be free, but I'm free now."

Garner was sentenced to 0000death for the Jan. 26, 1992, pre-dawn deaths of the children in the apartment of Addie Mack, who was in the emergency room of a nearby hospital. Garner had stolen keys from her purse while she received care and took a cab to the apartment to steal a television, radio, VCR and telephone.

Four girls and two boys, ages 8 to 13, were at the apartment alone, and Garner knew they were there when he threw a lit match onto a couch.

Garner has admitted setting the fire but said he thought the children would escape. Only one, 13-year-old Rod Mack, made it out alive.

Mack, wearing a shirt and tie, watched the execution quietly with several others, including Addie Mack, who lost three daughters in the fire; Marshandra Jackson, who lost a daughter; and Carl Freeman, the father of two of the girls. They did not comment after the execution.

Because so many people wanted to witness the execution on behalf of the young victims, the prison opened a second viewing room, prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said.

Garner spent his final hours watching television and talking on the telephone with his twin brother and female friend. He visited with his mother and other relatives, as well as with spiritual advisers and his legal team, and took Holy Communion about an hour and a half before the start of his execution.

As the drugs were administered, Garner looked at his niece and legal team before closing his eyes. An execution team member checked for a heartbeat before a curtain along a window separating Garner from witnesses was closed.

His heartbeat was checked again, prisons Director Ernie Moore said, and a coroner thought he heard a faint heartbeat. After waiting five minutes, his heartbeat was again checked and no signs of life were present, Moore said.

Garner is the sixth person executed in Ohio this year and the 39th put to death by the state since it resumed the practice in 1999.

Ohio man executed for deaths of 5 children

An Ohio man said he was "heartily sorry" before he was executed Tuesday for the murders of five children in a 1992 Cincinnati apartment fire he set in an attempt to destroy evidence of a burglary.

William Garner, 37, died by lethal injection at 10:38 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

As he lay on the execution table, Garner held a dreadlock of hair from a female friend and read a lengthy final statement from notebook paper held by the execution team leader, thanking several people as well as the state of Ohio.(See "The Death Penalty: Racist, Classist and Unfair.")

"God bless everyone who has been robbed in this procedure," he said. "I thought I'd never be free, but I'm free now."

In the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 26, 1992, Garner gained access to Addie Mack's apartment after stealing keys from her purse while she received care in a hospital emergency room. Six children, ages 8 to 13, were at the apartment alone, and Garner knew they were there when he threw a lit match onto a couch.

Garner has admitted setting the fire but said he thought the children would escape. Only one, 13-year-old Rod Mack, made it out alive. Mack watched the execution quietly with several others.

So many people wanted to witness the execution on behalf of the young victims that the prison opened a second viewing room, prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said. Mack and five others were accommodated in the witness room facing the execution chamber, and another three watched on closed-circuit TV in the spillover room, she said.

Garner spent his final hours watching television and talking on the telephone with a friend and his twin brother. He visited with his mother and other relatives, as well as with spiritual advisers and his legal team, and took Holy Communion about an hour and a half before the start of his execution.

Garner had said a secondary motivation for setting the fire was to draw attention to the children's squalid living conditions. He told police that he had noticed the bedroom "full of girls" and that one of them had asked him for water, which he provided, according to a report by the Ohio Parole Board. He also said he had been in another bedroom where the two boys slept.(See "In Death-Penalty Cases, Innocence Has to Matter.")

His lawyers had argued that the death sentences be set aside because Garner had developmental disabilities, a limited IQ and a violent, abusive upbringing that caused him to function on the level of a 14-year-old at the time of the deaths.

Garner is the sixth person executed in Ohio this year and the 39th put to death by the state since it resumed the practice in 1999.

Ohio executes man

WASHINGTON — Ohio on Tuesday executed a 37-year-old man convicted of killing five children by setting fire to their home after robbing it, prison authorities said.

William Garner was declared dead at 10:38 am local time (1438 GMT) after being administered a lethal injection. Ohio is the only US state to execute death row prisoners with a single chemical -- a strong anesthetic.

Most US states use a three-drug cocktail, which Ohio also used up until 2009, when a botched execution prompted it to change its procedures.

Garner was sentenced to the death penalty after being convicted of murdering five children, aged between eight and 13 years old, in 1992.

The children were killed in a fire Garner set in their home in an attempt to cover up his robbery.

A sixth child, 13-year-old Rod Mack, escaped the blaze. He attended Garner's execution on Tuesday, Ohio prison spokeswoman Julie Walburn told AFP.

Garner's final appeal was rejected Sunday by Ohio's Supreme Court.

His lawyer argued that Garner, who was 19 at the time of the crime, had the mental age of a 14-year-old.

Garner's execution was the 31st in the United States this year.

Ohio man who killed give kids in fire faces execution

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man who burglarized a Cincinnati apartment in 1992 then set it on fire, killing five children he knew were inside, had one appeal remaining as he awaited his Tuesday execution.
William Garner, 37, was moved Monday morning from death row in a central Ohio prison to the prison in southern Ohio that houses the state’s lethal injection execution chamber.
Garner awaited word from the Ohio Supreme Court on a request that his five death sentences be thrown out for reasons including his claim that he had the mental age of a child when he set the fire. Gov. Ted Strickland also was deciding whether he would grant clemency.

Garner had gained access to Addie Mack’s apartment by stealing keys from her purse while she received care in the emergency room of a nearby hospital.

Garner had told police that he had noticed a bedroom "full of girls," and that one of the girls had asked him for water, which he provided. He also said he had been in another bedroom in which two boys slept.
Garner, who stole a television, VCR, telephone and radio, admitted throwing a lighted match on a couch in an attempt to destroy evidence of the burglary and said he thought the children would escape.
Of the six children in the home, one escaped. Rod Mack, who was 13, heard his sisters screaming and watched his best friend open a door to a fire-filled hallway before he escaped through a window, barefoot and crying on the cold January morning.
Both Addie and Rod Mack intend to watch Garner’s execution, along with seven other relatives of the children, who ranged in age from 8 to 12. They died of smoke inhalation.
Garner will spend the hours leading up to his death in a cell about 15 steps from the death chamber. He will receive a special meal to include a porterhouse steak, onion rings, fried shrimp, barbecue ribs and wings; potato wedges, sweet potato pie, chocolate ice cream, and red Hawaiian Punch.
He also will be permitted to visit with relatives and friends. Garner’s niece and two attorneys plan to watch the execution on his behalf.
Garner has said the deaths were accidental and that a secondary motivation for setting the fire was to draw attention to the children’s squalid living conditions. His attorneys have argued that Garner should be spared the death penalty because he functions at the mental age of a juvenile, has a brain impairment from lead poisoning and was a victim of violence and sexual assault as a child.
Garner will be the sixth person executed in Ohio this year, and the 39th put to death by the state it resumed the practice in 1999.

All forms of the death penalty are cruel, inhumane and barbaric. This man wasn't pronounced dead until 10 minutes after the fatal chemical had been flowing in his veins. He could have been suffering from excruciating pain. Lethal injections can go wrong and cause undue suffering, which is inhumane and torture. The chemicals used are not even considered a humane mixture to euthanize animals, yet we continue to use them on humans. This man was mentally retarded at the time the crime was committed as his IQ was only 76; the same as a child's. He could not understand the nature and consequences of his actions. Nobody should be executed, but especially not someone who is mentally ill. The death penalty is the most cruel, degrading, barbaric, and inhumane punishment. It is also discriminatory and racist, as this 37 year old man was black and his victims were white. Another death will not heal or resolve these victims of this tragic accident. The death penalty violates a person's right to life, liberty and security and the right not to be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment/punishment. This man was considered to be borderline retarded. He never intended for the children to die. He just wanted to destroy the evidence that he robbed the house. Garner was abused and beaten by his mother and her boyfriends during his childhood and was also sexually assaulted by his brother. Due to his limited IQ, developmental disabilities and the other horrors in his life, he did not understand the nature and consequences of his actions at the time. It was impulsive, not rational and planned/pre-meditated/intentional. These factors caused him to function on the level of a 14 year old, not a 20 year old. The death penalty completely denies the possibility and opportunity for rehabilitation and self-improvement and restoration/reconciliation. This man needed treatment and counseling for his childhood abuse horrors, developmental disabilities, mental illness, and anger management. The death penalty for this man was unjust. 

 William Garner, age 37. Executed on July 13th in Ohio at 10:38 am.