Billy Slagle, a 44-year old who was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday after being found guilty of stabbing a neighbor to death during a burglary in Cleveland, was found dead in his cell yesterday around 5 a.m.
Chillicothe Correctional Institution spokeswoman JoEllen Smith confirmed that the inmate hanged himself.
“He was in his cell alone. No other inmates suspected to be involved,” Smith said. “It does appear to be a suicide.”
Slagle’s attorney told The Associated Press via email that she was planning an oral argument for this afternoon and was hoping to have the execution “stopped.”
In 1988, Slagle was sentenced to death row due to the stabbing of Mari Anne Pope, who was murdered while two young children she was watching were in the house.
In an unusual move,, the prosecutor in Cleveland actually asked the Ohio Parole Board to spare Slagle, who was 18 at the time of his life-altering crime.
But the parole board and Governor John Kasich both rejected mercy for Slagle.
An autopsy will be performed today to make the cause of death official.