Supreme Court sets 2020 execution for man convicted of Warren murder, rape

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court has set an execution date for a man convicted in the killing of a Warren woman and the rape and murder of her daughter 18 years ago.

Stanley Theodore Adams is to be put to death on April 16, 2020.

According to documents, Adams murdered 43-year-old Esther Cook, beating her to death in October 1999. He also beat and raped Cook’s 12-year-old daughter, Ashley, and strangled her with an electrical cord. Cook had previously allowed Adams to live in her Warren home.

The Ohio Supreme Court earlier affirmed Adams’ death sentence.

In a separate case at the time, Adams also was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the rape and murder of 40-year-old Roslyn Taylor of Hubbard Township. According to documents, her “partially clad body was discovered … in a fire-damage automobile.”

In a filing with the state’s high court earlier this year, the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office noted that Adams has “exhausted all of his state and federal court reviews of his conviction and death sentence and has not sought a stay.”

The state is supposed to restart lethal injections next month, with the planned execution of Ronald Phillips on May 10, following a delay of several years as prison officials worked to resolve legal challenges and other issues related to Ohio’s lethal injection procedures. 

Phillips, who was convicted in the brutal rape and murder of an Akron girl in 1993, could see his execution delayed again, however, as court proceedings continue.

More than 30 executions are scheduled through early 2021.