Mercy denied for Ohio man who killed fellow inmate

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Parole Board has rejected mercy for a killer scheduled to die next month for beating to death a fellow jail inmate in Cincinnati while awaiting sentencing for murder.

Investigators say Clarence Carter punched, choked, kicked and stomped on Johnny Allen for at least 30 minutes during a 1988 fight, stopping intermittently to wipe blood from his shoes.

The parole board ruled unanimously today that the severity of Carter’s crime outweighed any arguments in favor of sparing him.

Carter’s lawyers argue it was not a premeditated killing, that Allen likely instigated the fight and that inmate witnesses were unreliable. They say Carter is borderline mentally disabled and had an upbringing that taught violence.

Carter faced execution in 2007 but was spared by a lawsuit challenging lethal injection.