Both defense and prosecuting attorneys are requesting a Trumbull County man convicted of murdering his adoptive grandmother be taken off of death row.

In September of 1997, 44-year-old Sean Carter was convicted of violently murdering his adoptive grandmother, Veader Prince in her Farmington Township home. Carter was 18 years old at this time.

According to a bill of particulars filed in Carter's case, he repeatedly beat Prince with his fists, stabbed her with a knife multiple times and raped her.

During a Thursday hearing in the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, Carter's defense team said that Carter is a diagnosed functioning schizophrenic and cited the 2003 case of Virginia v. Atkins which established that it is illegal to execute a mentally handicapped person.

Prosecutors have requested a new mental evaluation on Carter and the defense is asking for that evaluation to be recorded. If the court does not approve the order, the defense also wants the judge to allow their own expert to evaluate Carter.

Carter has been on death row since 1998 and is currently scheduled to be executed on Jan. 22, 2025. However, if he is deemed incompetent, his execution could be canceled.