The Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office has announced a step forward in its case against convicted murderer Danny Lee Hill.

Hill was convicted in 1986 and sentenced to death for the September 10, 1985, kidnapping, torture, rape and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife.

Prosecutor Dennis Watkins announced Tuesday that Ohio Attorney General David Yost has agreed to have his Office of the Solicitor General, led by Elliot Gaiser, join and take the lead of the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office's effort to have the Ohio Supreme Court review a decision by the 11th District Court of Appeals decision requiring another hearing for Hill.

The decision by the 11th District Court of Appeals requires another hearing on Hill's Atkins or intellectual disability claim.

The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys' Association is also supporting the Fife family in the case, filing a "friend of the court" brief asking for the Ohio Supreme Court to hear the matter.

Yost and Gaiser are expected to file a joint memorandum in support of the jurisdiction on March 11.

Hill has been on death row for more than 38 years while filing around 30 appeals in both state and federal courts. During that time, the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office defended the conviction before the 11th District Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court.