Families of Murder Victims Express Outrage, Disbelief at Biden’s Death Row Commutations

Families of victims of convicted killers whose death row sentences were commuted by President Biden are furious, particularly by the administration’s disregard of the juries’ decisions and the administration’s failure to let them know ahead of time.“I was angry. I’m still angry. I am upset that this is even happening,” Heather Turner told Fox News during an interview Tuesday. Ms. Turners’ mother, South Carolina bank teller Donna Major, was shot dead by Brandon Council during a 2017 robbery.“That one man can make this decision without even talking to the victims, without any regard for what we’ve been through, what we’re going through, and completely hurt, frustrated, and angry,” she said. Ms. Turner wrote in a separate Facebook post that she was denied an in-person meeting with the federal pardon attorney.Council is among the 37 inmates whose federal death row sentence was commuted by Mr. Biden to a life sentence in prison. Council also murdered Ms. Major’s coworker.“She was shown no mercy at all. This man walked into the bank and never said two words to her. Shot her three times in total. He went and shot her coworker, Katie Skeen, as well, who was totally defenseless and unaware of anything happening,” said the victim’s husband, Danny Jenkins, during the “Fox and Friends” interview.“I can’t even believe that this is actually happening.”On Monday, the family of slain Columbus, Ohio police officer Bryan Hurst — who was killed in the line of duty in 2005 — expressed its dismay over his convicted murderer, Daryl Lawrence, being removed from death row.“My daughter and I are disappointed in the president’s decision, not only to commute Lawrence’s sentence but also many of the other inmates who committed unspeakable crimes, including the murder of children,” Mr. Hurst’s widow, Marissa Gibson, said in a statement provided to Columbus’ WBNS 10.“It undermines the entire justice system, as Lawrence was convicted and sentenced by a jury,” she added. “There was never a question of guilt. He never denied what he did, and the entire trial was simply for his defense to plea for mercy.“This man made a decision to choose violence. He knew the potential consequences and chose to murder regardless. All I can hope is that his nearly 20 years in prison has made him a changed man.”In 2021, Mr. Biden announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used. The president has said he would take the suspension on capital punishment further and end federal executions except for cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass killings. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Mr. Biden said in a statement on Monday. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and now president, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”Using Mr. Biden’s standard, only three inmates will remain on federal death row: the murderer of nine black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Dylann Roof; the 2013 Boston Marathon Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history.President-elect Trump, who has been a vocal advocate for expanding the use of capital punishment, vowed Tuesday, to restore the use of executions.“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”

Families of Murder Victims Express Outrage, Disbelief at Biden’s Death Row Commutations

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