A Louisiana man scheduled for execution in March died of "natural causes" one month before the set date and after having his leg amputated.
Christopher Sepulvado, 81, was set to be executed for the 1992 murder of his six-year-old stepson, Wesley Allen Mercer, nola.com reported. However, he died early Sunday at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. He had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and had also lost a leg to gangrene.
Sepulvado's attorneys said that doctors had recommended the inmate for hospice care shortly before prosecutors secured their warrant for execution, according to the outlet. He was on death row for beating the 6-year-old with the handle of screw driver and then immersed him in scalding water in a bath tub resulting in burns on 58% of his body.
"The idea that the state was planning to strap this tiny, frail, dying old man to a chair and force him to breathe toxic gas into his failing lungs is simply barbaric," Sepulvado's attorney, Shawn Nolan, added.
Sepulvado's spiritual advisor, Alison McCrary, told WIBW that the man had expressed remorse over his actions: "Chris was remorseful and repentant for what he did. The victim's family in Chris' case met with me and Chris on death row several years ago. Chris demonstrated remorse, has sought repentance, and has demonstrated through his actions that he has dedicated his life to the service of others. Chris has taken accountability for the harm he has caused and wants to support the healing of those impacted by his actions on that day."
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, however, called Sepulvado's death a miscarriage of justice.
"Justice should have been delivered long ago for the heinous act of brutally beating then scalding to death a defenseless 6-year-old boy. The state failed to deliver it in his lifetime, but Christopher Sepulvado now faces ultimate judgment before God in the hereafter," she said, according to Fox 8 Live. Had it gone forward, Sepulvado's execution would have been the first in the state in 15 years.
Originally published in The Latin Times
