Federal death row inmates, whose lives were saved by President Biden’s commutation of their sentences, are murdering victims from every facet of American society, from sailors to 8-year-old children.
On Monday, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates to life in prison without the possibility of parole, saying, “I am more convinced than ever that we must end the death penalty at the federal level.” announced. ”
Biden added, “Make no mistake about it. I condemn these murderers, I mourn the victims of their despicable acts, and my heart goes out to all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss. ” he added. “In good conscience, I cannot silently allow the new administration to resume the executions I had stopped.”
Among those saved was Jorge Avila-Torres, a retired Marine who was convicted of killing Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Snell in her barracks in Arlington, Virginia, in July 2009.
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Federal prosecutors allege that Avila Torrez told the inmate “to enter Snell’s room through an unlocked door, jump on him as he slept in his bed, bind his wrists with the power cord of his laptop computer, and hold him for the rest of his life.” “I strangled her,” he said. code. ”
Years later, Avila Torrez pled guilty to stabbing to death 8-year-old Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Crystal Tobias in Zion, Illinois, on Mother’s Day 2005, and a judge told him he was a serial killer. He was declared a murderer. ” reported the Associated Press.
Crystal Tobias, 9, and her friend Laura Hobbs, 8, were murdered by Jorge Avila-Torres in Zion, Illinois, in May 2005. Jorge Avila-Torrez, a Marine Corps veteran who pleaded guilty to killing Tobias and Hobbs, was reportedly a friend of Tobias’ brother at the time of his death. (Zion Police Department/Getty Images)
Another inmate saved by Biden was Daryl Lawrence, who was convicted of killing Columbus police officer Brian Hurst in 2005.
The Justice Department, which awarded Mr. Hearst the Medal of Valor posthumously, said he was working a special duty uniformed job at a bank when a masked gunman entered the bank and the two men exchanged gunfire.
“Despite being mortally wounded, Hurst evaded the counter and fired shots at the suspect before he fell to the ground. Authorities arrested the suspect several days later, who sought treatment at a hospital in Washington, D.C.,” it added. Ta. “Officer Hurst’s quick action, extraordinary courage and tenacity saved the lives of many people at the bank.”
Biden commutes prison sentences of 1,500 people, pardons 39 others: ‘largest single-day pardon’
Thomas Sanders will also no longer face the federal death penalty, despite being convicted in 2010 of the “brutal kidnapping and murder” of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts.
Prosecutors in the case allege that Mr. Sanders was in a relationship with Mr. Roberts’ mother, Suellen Roberts, and that Mr. Sanders was visiting a wildlife park near the Grand Canyon over the Labor Day weekend when he crossed Interstate 4 in Arizona. He shot Sanders in the head and killed him near the train, police said. He then forced Lexis into his car and traveled east with her captive.
Suellen Roberts, 31, mother of Thomas Sanders and 12-year-old Lexis Roberts. Undated photo provided by the FBI. Sanders was convicted of killing Roberts in Arizona in 2010 and kidnapping and killing Lexis days later. (FBI)
“Mr. Sanders drove across the country for several days before killing Lexis Roberts in a wooded area in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “Evidence at trial demonstrated that Sanders shot Lexis Roberts four times, cut her throat, and left her body in the woods where hunters discovered her body on October 8, 2010.”
Other inmates formerly on federal death row include Alejandro, a member of the MS-13 gang who shot and killed brothers Ruben Garcia Salinas and Manuel Garcia Salinas at a restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina, in December 2007;・Contains Umana. He called them “fake”,” federal prosecutors said.
Anthony Battle, who killed correctional officer D’Antonio Andrew Washington with a ball-peen hammer in a high-security room at the Atlanta facility in 1994, was spared as well.
In 1994, corrections officer D’Antonio Andrew Washington was murdered by inmate Anthony Battle at USP Atlanta. (Federal Bureau of Prisons/U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General)
Amnesty International USA, which supports Biden’s decision, said on Monday that “the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment” and that Biden’s action is a “huge moment for human rights.”
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Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, added, “With one stroke of the pen, the president has sealed his legacy as a leader who stands for racial justice, humanity, and morality.” “This will undoubtedly be one of the seminal achievements of the Biden presidency.”
Greg Norman is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
