Appeal of death sentence denied

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

A state court in Cincinnati has turned down an appeal by a 37-year-old man scheduled to die Tuesday for setting a 1992 fire that killed five children.

On Friday, three 1st District Court of Appeals judges unanimously rejected contentions by William Garner that his five death sentences should be thrown out for reasons including his claim that he had a mental age below 18 when he set the fire.

Garner told police he was trying to destroy evidence of a burglary but thought the children would escape the apartment fire.

Amy Borror, spokeswoman from the Ohio public defender’s office said it will appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.

The state parole board has said Garner clearly was raised in an abusive home and suffered developmentally, but that didn’t outweigh the children’s deaths.

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