The inmates on federal death row whose lives were spared by President Biden after he commuted their sentences have killed victims from all sectors of American society, from naval officers to children as young as eight.
Biden announced Monday that he had 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 are stopping the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” must”. ”
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, mourn the victims of their heinous acts, and mourn all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden added. “In good conscience, I cannot allow a new government to resume the executions I stopped.”
Those spared include Jorge Avila-Torrez, a Navy veteran found guilty of killing Naval Officer 2nd Class Amanda Snell at her barracks in Arlington, Virginia, in July 2009.
‘SQUAD’ Democrat applauds Biden for sparing murderers the ‘racist’ death penalty
Federal prosecutors said Avila-Torrez confessed to an inmate that he “entered Snell’s room through her unlocked door, jumped her while she was sleeping in her bed, bound her wrists with her laptop’s power cord, and strangled her with the rest of the cord.”
Years later, Avila-Torrez pleaded guilty to stabbing eight-year-old Laura Hobbs and nine-year-old Krystal Tobias on Mother’s Day 2005 in Zion, Illinois, and was labeled a “serial killer” by a judge, according to the statement The Associated Press.
Krystal Tobias, 9, and her friend Laura Hobbs, 8, were killed by Jorge Avila-Torrez in May 2005 in Zion, Illinois. It was also reportedly Marine veteran Jorge Avila-Torrez who pleaded guilty to killing Tobias and Hobbs, a friend of Tobias’ older brother at the time of their deaths. (Zion Police Department/Getty Images)
Another inmate spared by Biden is Daryl Lawrence, who was convicted in the 2005 killing of Columbus police officer Bryan Hurst.
The Justice Department posthumously awarded Hurst the Medal of Valor, he said served in uniform on special duty in a bank when a masked gunman entered and the two fired shots.
“Despite suffering a fatal wound, Hurst maneuvered around the counter and shot the suspect before collapsing. “Authorities arrested the shooter several days later as he sought medical attention at a hospital in Washington, D.C.,” it said. “Officer Hurst’s quick actions, extraordinary courage and persistence protected the lives of the many people at the bank.”
Thomas Sanders also no longer faces the federal death penalty, despite being found guilty in 2010 for the “brutal kidnapping and murder” of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts.
In that case, prosecutors said Sanders was with Roberts’ mother, Suellen Roberts, whom he fatally shot in the head over Labor Day weekend during a trip to a wildlife park near the Grand Canyon near Interstate 40 in Arizona had shot. He then forced Lexis into a vehicle and held her captive while he traveled east.
Thomas Sanders and Suellen Roberts, 31, the mother of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts, in undated photos from the FBI. Sanders was convicted of killing Roberts in Arizona in 2010 and kidnapping and murdering Lexis a few days later. (FBI)
“Sanders drove across the country for several days before murdering Lexis Roberts in a wooded area in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana,” the said said the Justice Department. “The evidence at trial established that Sanders shot Lexis Roberts four times, slit 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, a member of the MS-13 gang fatally shot the brothers Ruben and Manuel Garcia Salinas at a restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina, in December 2007, “after they ‘disrespected’ his gang signs as ‘fake’.” according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
Anthony Battle, who killed prison guard D’Antonio Andrew Washington with a ball-peen hammer in a high-security unit at an Atlanta facility in 1994, was also spared.
Correctional Officer D’Antonio Andrew Washington was killed by inmate Anthony Battle at USP Atlanta in 1994. (Federal Bureau of Prisons/U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General)
Amnesty International USA, A supporter of Biden’s decision said Monday that the “death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment” and Biden’s move was “a great moment for human rights.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“With the stroke of a pen, the President reaffirms his legacy as a leader who champions racial justice, humanity and morality.” added Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This will undoubtedly be one of the landmark achievements of the Biden presidency.”
