Gov. Mike DeWine has issued a three-year reprieve on the execution of Danny Lee Hill, who was convicted in the 1985 murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife of Warren.

A news release from DeWine’s office states Hill, who was scheduled to be executed on July 22, has a new execution date of July 18, 2029.

DeWine issued the reprieve, along with two others, because of the ongoing problems involving the willingness of pharmaceutical suppliers to provide drugs to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC), pursuant to DRC protocol, without endangering other Ohioans, the release states.

The other two reprieves were given to Gerald Hand, who was set for execution on June 17 and now has a new date of April 18, 2029, and Cleveland R. Jackson, who was set for execution on July 15 and now has a new execution date of June 13, 2029.

Hand was convicted in 2003 of the murders of his fourth wife and a friend who prosecutors said helped him kill two previous wives near Columbus. Jackson was convicted along with his half-brother Jeronique Cunningham of shooting and killing 17-year-old Leneshia Williams and 3-year-old Jayla Grant at an apartment in Lima in 2002. Eight people were shot during that robbery attempt. Cunningham is serving a sentence of life in prison, while Jackson was given the death penalty.

BACKGROUND ON CASE

The Ohio Supreme Court in October heard oral arguments in the Hill case that could determine whether death-row inmates can challenge their sentences using civil procedural rules. The court has not yet issued a ruling on the motion.

A ruling in Hill’s favor could reopen his case to reevaluate his death penalty eligibility. A victory by the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office would reinforce strict limits on postconviction appeals, potentially barring similar challenges.

Hill was convicted in 1986 for the murder of 12-year-old Boy Scout Raymond Fife in Warren. At issue is whether Hill can use an Ohio law to reopen his case and present new evidence of intellectual disability, potentially rendering him ineligible for execution.

Hill, who was 18 at the time of the 1985 crime, was described as intellectually disabled during his trial. He was convicted of aggravated murder in Trumbull County and sentenced to death, a penalty permissible at the time.

However, a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia banned the execution of intellectually disabled individuals as a violation of the Eighth Amendment, prompting states to develop criteria for assessing such disabilities.

In 2003, Hill challenged his death sentence, citing his intellectual disability under Ohio’s newly established three-part test. After an 11-day evidentiary hearing, the Trumbull County Court rejected his claim — a decision upheld by the Eleventh District Court of Appeals, with the Ohio Supreme Court declining to intervene, according to previous media reports.

Legal standards shifted again in 2017 with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Moore v. Texas decision, which mandated that courts use current clinical standards for intellectual disability assessments. Ohio updated its criteria in 2018, and a state-appointed expert subsequently concluded Hill meets the definition of intellectually disabled.

Armed with this finding, Hill’s defense team filed a 2019 motion under a civil rule, typically used in civil cases, to reopen his postconviction proceeding and reassess his sentence.

The Trumbull County trial court denied the motion, ruling that criminal defendants must use specific postconviction procedures, not civil rules, and deemed Hill’s filing an unauthorized second petition. However, in 2022, the Eleventh District Court of Appeals reversed the decision, allowing Hill to use the civil rule to request a review of new evidence under updated standards.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that the civil rule used by Hill’s defense cannot override the state’s criminal appeal framework and that Hill’s motion improperly seeks to relitigate his case.

The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association supports this position. Hill’s defense counters that the motion is not a second petition, but a request to reconsider the prior dismissal, ensuring equal procedural access for death-row inmates.

WATKINS’ REACTION

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said his office will never comment regarding a pending criminal case in another jurisdiction, such as federal court.

“However, regarding the constitutionality of the death penalty, the law is the clearest it has been in years. Yes Virginia, there is a death penalty in the United States. The people of Ohio only need to look to the state of Florida and its Gov. Ron DeSantis, which carried out its 18th execution on Dec. 9. In fact, there have been 45 executions this year in the U.S., a 15-year record,” Watkins said.

He said he and Raymond’s mother, Miriam Fife, are disappointed at the governor’s action, but “he realizes there are pending appeals in this case and he is not giving up on fighting to bring justice to the Fife family.”

Watkins also said he hopes “Ohio’s new governor and the legislature can get to work in bringing executions back to the state like 12 other states did in 2025.”

Forty-nine people were executed in the United States last year, which is believed to be a record.

Watkins noted the state of Florida in December executed a man for a heinous crime committed in the 1980s.

“Raymond Fife was killed in 1985,” he said. “Miriam Fife has been twisting in the wind for more than 40 years waiting for justice for her son.”