The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday set a 2025 execution date for a man convicted of killing five people including three children more than three decades ago.
The court's decision in the case of death row inmate Samuel Moreland comes even as an unofficial execution moratorium continues in Ohio, which has been unable to find the needed lethal drugs.
The court sided with the Montgomery County prosecutor, which requested an execution date with all of Moreland's state and federal appeals ended. The court scheduled the execution for July 30, 2025.
Moreland's attorneys opposed the request, arguing that Moreland has a petition pending with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging rights' violations. That commission does not have the ability to stop a U.S. execution.
Moreland was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1985 Dayton murders of his girlfriend, Glenna Green, 46; her daughter, Lana Green, 23; and three of Glenna Green's grandchildren: 7-year-old Daytrin Talbott, 6-year-old Datwan Talbott, and 6-year-old Violana Green.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said last year that because of Ohio's difficulty finding drugs for executions, lethal injection is no longer an option, and lawmakers must choose a different method of capital punishment before any inmates can be put to death.
