Ronald Phillips (murderer)

{{Infobox criminal

| image = Ronald Phillips.jpg

| birth_name = Ronald Ray Phillips

| birth_date = {{birth date|1973|10|10}}

| birth_place = Bell County, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|7|26|1973|10|10}}

| death_place = Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Lucasville, Ohio, U.S.

| death_cause = Execution by lethal injection

| conviction = Aggravated murder
Felonious sexual penetration
Rape (3 counts)

| criminal_penalty = Death (September 16, 1993)

| victims = Sheila Marie Evans, 3

| date = January 18, 1993

}}

Ronald Ray Phillips (October 10, 1973 – July 26, 2017){{cite web|url=https://appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch/Search/Details/A279109|title=Offender Details|website=appgateway.drc.ohio.gov|access-date=July 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119061616/https://appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch/Search/Details/A279109|archive-date=January 19, 2022}} was an Ohio death row inmate who was sentenced to death and executed for the 1993 rape and murder of Sheila Evans (September 10, 1989 – January 18, 1993), the 3-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, Fae Amanda Evans (March 29, 1967 – July 8, 2008), after an extended period of physical and sexual abuse against the child.{{cite web|date=December 9, 2016|title=Clemency Report|url=https://drc.ohio.gov/Portals/0/Clemency/Ronald%20Phillips%20Death%20Penalty%20Clemency%20Report%20and%20Recommendation%202016.pdf?ver=2016-12-09-104044-340}} Evans was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangering for her involvement and sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison. She died of leukemia on July 8, 2008, aged 41, at the state prison hospital in Columbus, Ohio.{{cite news|last=Metzger|first=Stephanie|date=July 26, 2017|title=1,350 days and 17 steps: Why it took so long for Ronald Phillips to die|work=WCNC-TV|url=https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/ohio/1350-days-and-17-steps-why-it-took-so-long-for-ronald-phillips-to-die/95-455796771|access-date=November 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118222049/https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/ohio/1350-days-and-17-steps-why-it-took-so-long-for-ronald-phillips-to-die/95-455796771|archive-date=November 18, 2022}}

Background

Phillips was born on October 10, 1973, in Bell County, Texas, the fifth of seven children to William D. Phillips Sr. (August 18, 1948 – September 29, 2009) and Donna M. Phillips (December 17, 1947 – January 11, 2016). His childhood nickname was "Bubby". Phillips allegedly suffered a traumatic childhood which involved mental illness and physical and sexual abuse mainly by his father, but also by his cousin.{{cite news|last=Glunt|first=Nick|date=January 19, 2016|title=Mother of death row inmate dies after his failed attempts to give her a kidney|work=Akron Beacon Journal|url=https://beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2016/01/19/mother-death-row-inmate-dies/10534929007/|access-date=November 18, 2022}}

Issues with Ohio's executions

Phillips is notable for having a drawn-out case. He spent over half of his life on death row since he was sentenced on September 16, 1993, and had a total of 9 execution dates set between November 2013 and July 2017.{{cite web|url=https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/upcoming-executions#2017|title=Upcoming Executions {{!}} Death Penalty Information Center|website=deathpenaltyinfo.org|language=en|access-date=July 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712211329/https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/upcoming-executions|archive-date=July 12, 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/akron-canton-news/ronald-phillips-executed-wednesday-marking-ohios-first-execution-in-three-years|title=Who is Ronald Phillips? The man executed Wednesday for raping and killing a 3-year-old girl in 1993|first=Erin|last=Zaranec|date=July 26, 2017|publisher=News 5 Cleveland}}

His first execution date of November 14, 2013, was stayed to consider his request to donate his non-vital organs before his execution, a request which was later denied on the grounds that he would not have enough time to recover before his new execution date of July 2, 2014. Several execution dates were set and stayed for not only Phillips, but several other inmates, as a result of questions regarding the constitutionality of Ohio's lethal injection protocol, as well as whether Ohio had access to execution drugs.{{cite news|date=October 3, 2016|title=Ronald Phillips execution: Ohio plans January death using 3-drug combo after 3-year pause|work=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ronald-phillips-execution-ohio-january-3-drug-combo/|access-date=November 18, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Mitch|date=July 26, 2017|title=Ohio Carries Out Its First Execution Since 2014|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/us/ohio-execution-ronald-phillips-midazolam.html|access-date=November 18, 2022}}

A group of inmates, consisting of Phillips, Gary Otte, and Raymond Tibbetts, challenged Ohio's execution protocol, and thus a federal judge granted them a preliminary injunction on January 26, 2017.{{cite news|last=Palmer|first=Kim|date=January 26, 2017|title=Federal judge rejects Ohio's new lethal injection process, stays executions|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ohio-execution-idUSKBN15A25Y|access-date=November 18, 2022}} The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 8–6 in favor of the State of Ohio on June 28, 2017.{{cite news|last=Kenning|first=Chris|date=June 28, 2017|title=Appeals court lifts injunction against Ohio executions|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ohio-execution-idUSKBN19J2O4|access-date=November 18, 2022}} Otte was executed in September 2017, while Governor John Kasich commuted Tibbetts' sentence to life without parole in July 2018.{{cite news|last=Connor|first=Tracy|date=September 13, 2017|title=Ohio Executes Double Murderer Gary Otte as He Sings Hymn|work=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/lethal-injection/ohio-executes-double-murderer-gary-otte-n800971|access-date=November 18, 2022}}{{cite news|date=July 21, 2018|title=Ohio death row inmate spared after childhood abuse revelations|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44908026|access-date=November 18, 2022}}

Execution

In an order published by Ohio Governor John Kasich on May 1, 2017, Phillips' execution was rescheduled from May 10, 2017, to July 26, 2017. Following the approval of Ohio's lethal injection protocol four weeks prior to the execution date, Phillips' attorneys filed a flurry of appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States, all of which were denied. Governor Kasich also refused to call off the execution, following a unanimous recommendation against clemency by the Ohio Parole Board. A day before his execution, he had a last meal of a large cheese, bell pepper, and mushroom pizza, strawberry cheesecake, a piece of unleavened bread, a Pepsi, and grape juice. He reportedly used the unleavened bread and grape juice for the sake of a makeshift communion shortly before his execution. Ronald Phillips was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, ending a {{frac|3|1|2}}-year hiatus on executions in Ohio.{{cite news|last=Connor|first=Tracy|date=July 26, 2017|title=Ronald Phillips Executed in Ohio, Ending Three-Year Break|work=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/lethal-injection/ronald-phillips-executed-ohio-ending-three-year-break-n786676|access-date=November 18, 2022}}