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Appeals court reconsiders death sentence for boy's killing

Man from Franklin, woman from Cincinnati indicted on federal child porn, human trafficking charges
Posted at 12:01 PM, Dec 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-06 12:01:01-05

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal appeals court has heard arguments about whether a man should be executed for the torture, rape and murder of a 12-year-old Boy Scout.

Danny Lee Hill was sentenced for a 1985 attack on Raymond Fife in Warren, near Youngstown. WFMJ-TV reports an attorney argued Thursday to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that Hill's sentence should be vacated.

That court ruled last year the 52-year-old Hill shouldn't be executed because he showed signs of being intellectually disabled. The U.S. Supreme Court later ordered the appeals court to reconsider the case because its decision relied heavily on a case decided after Hill was sentenced.

The Supreme Court has said executing people with intellectual disabilities is unconstitutional.

Previously, Hill has unsuccessfully challenged bite-mark evidence used against him.