A recently released capital crimes reports in Ohio has Attorney General Dave Yost renewing his call to state leaders to address what he calls is a costly and ineffective capital-punishment system.

"No criminal penalty - capital or otherwise - should carry an empty promise of justice," Yost said. "Ohioans on both sides of the death-penalty debate can agree that our current system of capital punishment is unworkable, and something needs to change."

The report, which was released on April 1, shows that from 1981 through 2023, 336 people have received a combined 341 death sentences. Despite thise, only 56 sentences have been carried out, according to the report.

The last sentence carried out was in 2018.

There are 119 inmates in Ohio with death sentences, including four in Mahoning County and seven in Trumbull County, according to Yost's website. They are listed below.

Mahoning:

  • John Drummond
  • Scott Group
  • Lance Hundley
  • Willie Gene Wilks

Trumbull:

  • Stanley Adams
  • Sean Carter
  • Danny Lee Hill
  • Nathaniel Jackson
  • David Martin
  • Donna Marie Roberts
  • Andre Williams

An inmate spends more than 21 years on Death Row, due in large part to the appeal process, before an execution date is set. Yost also attributes a reluctance to sell the drugs by pharmaceutical companies.

In January, Yost proposed legislation that would bring the use of nitrogen hypoxia, a colorless and odorless gas, to Ohio as an alternative to lethal injection.

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