The inmates on federal death row whose lives were spared by President Biden after he commuted their sentences have killed victims across all facets of American society, ranging from a sailor to children as young as 8 years old.
Biden announced Monday that he commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole because he is “more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden added. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
Among those who have been spared are Jorge Avila-Torrez, a Marine veteran found guilty of killing Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Snell inside of her barracks in Arlington, Virginia, in July 2009.
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Federal prosecutors said Avila-Torrez confessed to an inmate that he “entered Snell’s room through her unlocked door, jumped on her as she slept in her bed, bound her wrists with the power cord from her laptop computer and strangled her with the rest of the cord.”
Then years later, Avila-Torrez pleaded guilty to stabbing 8-year-old Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Krystal Tobias to death on Mother’s Day 2005 in Zion, Illinois, and was told by a judge that he was a “serial killer,” according to The Associated Press.
Another inmate spared by Biden is Daryl Lawrence, who was convicted of killing Columbus Police Officer Bryan Hurst in 2005.
The Justice Department, which posthumously awarded Hurst the Medal of Valor, said he was working uniformed special duty at a bank when a masked gunman entered and the two exchanged fire.
“In spite of receiving a mortal wound, Hurst maneuvered around the counter and fired at the suspect before he collapsed. Authorities apprehended the gunman several days later when he sought medical attention at a hospital in Washington, D.C.,” it added. “Officer Hurst’s quick action, exceptional courage, and persistence protected the lives of the many people at the bank.”
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Thomas Sanders also will no longer face the federal death penalty despite being found guilty for the “brutal kidnapping and murder” of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts in 2010.
In that case, prosecutors said Sanders was dating Roberts’ mother Suellen Roberts, whom he fatally shot in the head near Interstate 40 in Arizona during a trip to a wildlife park near the Grand Canyon over Labor Day weekend. He then forced Lexis into a vehicle and held her captive as he traveled east.
“Sanders drove several days across the country before he murdered Lexis Roberts in a wooded area in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana,” the Justice Department said. “Evidence at trial established that Sanders shot Lexis Roberts four times, cut her throat, and left her body in the woods where a hunter found her body on October 8, 2010.”
Other inmates who were once on federal death row include Alejandro Umana, an MS-13 gang member who fatally shot brothers Ruben and Manuel Garcia Salinas at a restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina, in December 2007 “after they ‘disrespected’ his gang signs by calling them ‘fake,’” according to federal prosecutors.
Anthony Battle, who killed prison guard D’Antonio Andrew Washington with a ball-peen hammer inside a maximum-security unit at an Atlanta facility in 1994, has been spared as well.
Amnesty International USA, a supporter of Biden’s decision, said Monday that the “death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment” and Biden’s move is “a big moment for human rights.”
“With a stroke of his pen, the President locks in his legacy as a leader who stands for racial justice, humanity, and morality,” added Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This will undoubtedly be one of the seminal achievements of the Biden presidency.”
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