Federal death row inmates whose lives were spared by President Biden after commuting their sentences have killed victims in all facets of American society, from naval officers to children as young as 8 years old.
Biden announced Monday that he had commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates sentenced to death on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole, because he is “more convinced than ever that we must end the use of the death penalty at the federal level. ”
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, I grieve for the victims of their despicable actions, and I ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable losses,” Biden added. “I cannot in good conscience stand back and let a new administration resume the executions I stopped.”
Among those spared was Jorge Avila-Torrez, a Navy veteran convicted of killing Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Snell inside his barracks in Arlington, Virginia, in July 2009.
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Federal prosecutors said Avila-Torrez admitted to an inmate that he “entered Snell’s room through her unlocked door, jumped on her while she was sleeping in his bed, tied her wrists with the power cord of her laptop and strangled her with the rest of the food.” rope.”
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 a judge told him he was a “serial killer.” “, according to the Associated Press.
Krystal Tobias, 9, left, and her friend Laura Hobbs, 8, who were killed by Jorge Avila-Torrez in Zion, Illinois, in May 2005. Navy veteran Jorge Avila-Torrez, who pleaded guilty of the murder of Tobias and Hobbs, was reportedly 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 of the murder of Columbus police officer Bryan Hurst in 2005.
The Justice Department, which posthumously awarded Hurst the Medal of Valor, said he was working in uniform at a bank when a masked gunman entered and the two men exchanged gunfire .
Although he was mortally wounded, Hurst walked around the counter and shot the suspect before he collapsed. Authorities apprehended the shooter several days later as he sought medical attention at a hospital in Washington, DC,” the statement added. “Officer Hurst’s quick action, exceptional courage and perseverance protected the lives of many people at the bank.”
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Thomas Sanders will also no longer face the federal death penalty, despite being convicted of 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 during Labor Day weekend. He then forced Lexis into a vehicle and held her captive as he drove east.
Thomas Sanders and Suellen Roberts, 31, mother of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts, in undated photos provided by the FBI. Sanders was convicted of murdering Roberts in Arizona in 2010 and then kidnapping and killing Lexis days later. (FBI)
“Sanders drove across the country for several days before murdering Lexis Roberts in a wooded area of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana,” the Justice Department said. “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 formerly on federal death row include Alejandro Umana, an MS-13 gang member who fatally shot his brothers Ruben and Manuel Garcia Salinas at a Greensboro, North Carolina restaurant, in December 2007 “after having “disrespected” his gang’s signs. calling them “fake,” according to federal prosecutors.
Anthony Battle, who killed D’Antonio prison guard Andrew Washington with a ball-peen hammer in a maximum security unit of an Atlanta facility in 1994, was also spared.
D’Antonio Correctional Officer 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, inhuman and degrading punishment” and that Biden’s decision is “a great moment for human rights.”
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“With the stroke of a pen, the president confirms his legacy as a leader who defends racial justice, humanity and morality,” added Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This will undoubtedly be one of the defining achievements of the Biden presidency.”
