An East Cleveland man executed for fatally shooting his three sons while they slept in 1982 was put to death with his hand clenched in an obscene gesture. 66-year-old Reginald Brooks died just after 2pm, while raising the middle finger of his left hand. This morning outside the Lucasville prison, death penalty opponents held a vigil. Among them was Sister Helen Prejean, the activist who wrote the book “Dead Man Walking.” Prejean came to the Statehouse later to support Democratic lawmakers who are pushing for a moratorium on executions, and she says Ohio is an usual member of the group of death penalty states.
"The states that practiced slavery, the states that lynched the most people, the states that quote the bible the most, are the big executing states. Now I don't know where Ohio fits in all this, but y'all are really in there as one of the top executers in the country. I'm trying to understand."
Brooks’ execution was the fifth one in Ohio this year but the first in six months, and the first since the state Supreme Court created a death penalty task force to review the process in Ohio.