Ohio death row inmate found too incompetent to be executed

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – A court has ruled that an Ohio death row inmate convicted of a crime cannot be executed at this time due to his mental condition.

Thursday, a hearing was held before Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas Judge Sean O’Brien regarding the murder conviction and death sentence of Sean Carter. During that hearing, evidence was submitted that three doctors who evaluated Carter found that his mental condition deteriorated while in custody, according to a news release from the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office.

The hearing was on two motions presented by the defense regarding Carter’s mental state and competency to be executed under Ohio law, as well as the issue of his mental illness at the time of the offense.

The court found that Carter is incompetent to be executed at this time and will set a hearing in two full years to review his competency again, according to the news release.

If he is found competent, prosecutors say they plan to argue Carter’s claim of a serious mental illness at the time of the offense.

“As stated previously, this office has consistently fought, and will continue to fight in the future, the idea that this Defendant suffered from a serious mental illness at the time of the offense such that it affected his ability to control his conduct. The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office noted at the time of trial, his competency was evaluated by two psychiatrists and a psychologist, and Carter was found to be competent and sane,” read a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors say they are frustrated by the slow pace of the process and hope that Carter is held accountable for his crimes.

Carter was convicted of the rape and murder of his adoptive grandmother, Veader Prince, in September of 1997.

Investigators at the time said Carter beat her and stabbed her with a kitchen knife after she told Carter that he could not stay at her house anymore.

Prince’s children found her body the next evening. The autopsy report said Prince was stabbed 18 times.

Carter has been at the Warren Correction Institution since 1998. He is one of 11 inmates on death row, many of which have been there for years due to the state’s inability to obtain lethal injection drugs and the lengthy appeals process.

The last execution in Ohio was in 1998.

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