Court rejects last-ditch legal move by killer Getsy

WARREN — The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has ruled against Jason Getsy of Hubbard, who asked to be spared the death penalty on the grounds that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.

Getsy is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday, but Gov. Ted Strickland still has the power to cancel the execution.

Strickland has said he will further study staff recommendations before deciding Getsy’s fate late this week.

LuWayne Annos, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said early this year that the 6th Circuit appeal was the last legal challenge Getsy had pending and that it was frivolous and unlikely to succeed.

Getsy, 33, was convicted of aggravated murder in the slaying of Ann Serafino, 68, in her Hubbard Township home, and attempted murder for wounding her son, Charles Serafino, in the same attack.