sheila marie evans

Wednesday, 26 July 2017 12:00

Phillips Dead at 10:43

24 years after Ronald Phillips beat and raped his then-girlfriend's three year old daughter Sheila Marie Evans to death -- 24 years later -- Ronald Phillips is dead, his last words asking for forgiveness.

The official time of death was 10:43 a.m. The start time of the execution was briefly delayed so Phillips could meet with his brother William, who arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville this morning.

During his last statement, Phillips asked the Evans family for forgiveness for what he had done, and said Sheila Marie did not deserve what he did to her but was with the Lord. He also thanked his family and attorneys for their support and efforts.

WAKR's Ryan Lang was a witness to the execution. He reported no apparent distress from Phillips during the insertion of the needle, his final statement or when the mixture of three drugs began flowing into his body.

Renee Mundell, the half-sister of Sheila Marie, told reporters afterwards the execution was "too easy" on Phillips given the nature of his rape and the murder. She also noted family members would have a memorial service at the Vaughn Cemetery in Lake Milton, where Sheila is buried, at 3:00 p.m. to remember her with a balloon release and prayers.

Defense lawyers and death penalty advocates argued the process was unproven and could still cause distress for the inmate, leading to cruel and unusual punishment, after executions three years ago left some inmates gasping for more than 25 minutes. Phillips' brother and prayer counselors present for Phillips made no statements to the media following the execution.

(9:38p story correction for name of Evans half-sister)

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(Attorneys for Phillips) Statement of Timothy F. Sweeney and Lisa M. Lagos, attorneys for Ronald Phillips, on his execution today:

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Evans family for their loss. And to the Phillips family for theirs.

Ron Phillips committed an unspeakable crime when he was 19 years old, and was himself the product of a home filled with abuse and neglect. But the grown man who woke up this morning at age 43, ready to face his punishment, did not in any way resemble that troubled and broken teen. He had grown to be a good man, who was thoughtful, caring, compassionate, remorseful, and reflective. He tried every day to atone for his shameful role in Sheila’s death. In the past years, Ron has studied for and earned his certification to be a minister, and was preparing his first sermon. It was entitled “My People.”

Ron’s case suggests we should thoughtfully reconsider our laws that permit the harshest punishment for those who committed their crimes as teenagers, especially the irrevocable punishment of death.

We’ll end by saying that another thing Ron was regretful about today is that he would be unable to give that first sermon he’d been preparing. Having witnessed his execution this morning, and admiring the way he has carried himself these last months and years, we believe he did give that sermon, and it was a powerful one that serves as a testament of how to face death with dignity and courage and, above all, that no one is beyond redemption."

– Timothy F. Sweeney and Lisa M. Lagos, attorneys for Ronald Phillips, July 26, 2017

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Tuesday, 25 July 2017 12:09

Phillips: Large Pizza, Stawberry Cheesecake

Akron killer Ronald Phillips is in Lucasville - kept with just a wall and corridor between his cell in the Death House there and the Death Chamber where he's scheduled to recieve a lethal drug cocktail tomorrow.

Phillips, on Death Row for 24 years, is scheduled to die by injection for the 1993 rape and murder of three year old Sheila Marie Evans, the daughter of his then-girlfriend.

Phillips arrived shortly after ten this morning; while his "special meal request" is subject to change, WAKR's Ryan Lang reports he asked for a large cheese, bell pepper and mushroom pizza; strawberry cheesecake; a two-liter bottle of Pepsi; a 10 ounce bottle of grape juice and a piece of unleavened bread.

The U.S. Supreme Court has a bid before it for a stay of execution from critics who are contesting the three-drug mix used for lethal injection as a "humane" form that will minimize pain and suffering for Phillips. Critics are also asking Ohio Governor John Kasich to intervene, citing the drug cocktail isn't proven.

Barring any delays or stay orders from the Court or the Governor, Phillips will be receive the injection tomorrow morning after 10:00.

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Tuesday, 18 July 2017 11:00

Phillips Appeals To SCOTUS: Stop My Execution

As expected, lawyers for three condemned killers are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in after the full Sixth Circuit Appeals Court ruled against their bid to halt their executions.

Among the three is Akron's Ronald Phillips, scheduled to die July 26 for the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend's three year old daughter, Sheila Marie Evans.

The defense lawyers say they need more time to appeal the state's use of a new drug execution method.

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Thursday, 26 January 2017 14:35

Phillips Execution On Hold - Again

Once again, Akron's Ronald Phillips breathes easier because a judge has stepped in to halt his last breath.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Merz ruled Ohio's plans to use a new three-drug cocktail to deliver the lethal injection that would kill Phillips is unconstitutional, a victory for opponents of capital punishment who've successfully out-maneuvered states where lethal injection is the form of execution by denying access to lethal drugs previously used because pharmaceutical and chemical companies won't sell them for the purposes of executions.

Phillips has been on Death Row for over a generation for raping his then-girlfriend's three year old daughter; Sheila Marie Evans died weeks later from the severe injuries. He had been scheduled for execution in the Death Chamber at the Ohio Correctional Insitution in Lucasville in January, but appeals put that schedule on hold until a scheduled February 15th date. Now that schedule is also on hold.

Ironically, the ruling by Judge Merz came almost to the day of the anniversday of the death of Evans on January 18, 1993.

Lawyers for Phillips and two other inmates argued before Merz that the use of a sedative, midazolam, couldn't meet a U.S. Supreme Court threshold of not causing "serious harm." Merz also barred the use of the two other drugs, rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride, ruling the State was not consistent in his offerings in the past on the new lethal cocktail as an alternative. The first two chemicals sedate and paralyze the inmate, while the potassium chloride stops the heart.

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Friday, 09 December 2016 17:04

Phillips Denied Clemency Recommendation

The Akron man who's been on death row since 1993 may have just over a month left on earth.

The Ohio Parole Board today recomended no clemency for Ronald Phillips, who first began serving his sentence 23 years ago after he was convicted of the rape and murder of his then-girlfiend's three year old daughter.

The crime was horribly brutal; an autopsy found "severe trauma" in the death of Sheila Marie Evans, including damages to her internal organs and more than 120 bruises over her tiny body. Prosecutors said the injureis reflected several hours of a severe beating, then rape, before she died days after she was hospitalized.

The recommendation now moves to Governor John Kasich, who hasn't been receptive to considering Phillips' case in the past. Barring any last-minute court appeals, Phillips will die by lethal injection on January 12, 2017 in the death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville, Ohio.

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(Summit County Prosecutor) Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh announced today that the Ohio Parole Board voted to recommend convicted murderer Ronald Phillips be denied clemency. Phillips' clemency request and the Board's recommendation now go to Ohio Governor John Kasich, who makes the final decision to grant or deny clemency.

In 1993, a Summit County jury found Phillips, then 19, guilty of Aggravated Murder, Felonious Sexual Penetration and three counts of Rape. In January of that year, Phillips brutally assaulted and raped three-year-old Sheila Marie Evans. Evans died as result. Among her injuries were severe trauma to her internal organs and more than 125 bruises to her face, torso, arms, legs and genitalia.

"Phillips brutally beat and assaulted Sheila Marie over several hours. She suffered for days before dying from her injuries. Phillips deserves the ultimate punishment for what he did," said Prosecutor Walsh. "This is the third time the Ohio Parole Board has denied Phillips clemency. My hope is that Governor Kasich follows the Parole Board's recommendation and denies Phillips clemency and gives peace to Sheila's family."

In its recommendation against clemency, the Board cited several reasons, and again called the repeated beating and rape of Sheila Marie Evans "clearly among the worst of the worst capital crimes."

Phillip's execution is scheduled for January 12, 2017.

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