Man whose execution was delayed 3 times has death sentence thrown out under new Ohio law

A mentally ill man, who had been on Ohio’s death row for two decades, saw his death sentence thrown out Monday under a recent state law that says people who have a serious mental illness are ineligible for the death penalty.

Stanley Fitzpatrick, 56, is now the third person convicted in Hamilton County to have his death sentence thrown out because of the law, according to the Ohio attorney general’s office.

At a hearing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Judge Jody Luebbers found that Fitzpatrick – who appeared by video from a state prison in Chillicothe – was ineligible for the death penalty . Both prosecutors and Fitzpatrick’s attorneys submitted reports by experts who found that Fitzpatrick has a serious mental illness.

Luebbers sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. Fitzpatrick was convicted in 2002 of killing three people, trying to kill a police officer as well as other crimes.

One of his attorneys, Tim Sweeney, also appeared by video, sitting next to Fitzpatrick. Another attorney, Rob Linneman, was in Luebbers’ courtroom.

Fitzpatrick declined to make a statement.

The law , enacted in 2021, says a person is exempt from the death penalty if a mental illness significantly impacted that person’s ability to make rational decisions or appreciate “the nature, consequences or wrongfulness” of a crime.

The law lists four conditions that qualify: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and delusional disorder.

Experts for both Fitzpatrick’s attorneys and prosecutors diagnosed him with either schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder with psychotic features, according to court documents.

“Fitzpatrick was delusional, hallucinating and was exhibiting bizarre behavior to anyone he came in contact with,” Linneman said in the petition to vacate the death sentence. “Although brutal and tragic, these crimes were the product of a man suffering from severe psychiatric symptoms and cognitive limitations.”

Fitzpatrick was scheduled to be executed in 2018 , 2020 and 2023 , but the execution was delayed each time because pharmaceutical companies have been unwilling to provide the drugs used for executions.

Mental illness undiagnosed

Fitzpatrick’s plea came after opening statements had concluded in his 2002 jury trial.

He was allowed to enter pleas to all charges, according to court documents, even though he showed “multiple and severe mental health symptoms” before the trial.

While being held in jail after his arrest, Fitzpatrick's symptoms included inability to sleep due to nightmares, hearing voices and visual hallucinations, the documents say. Family, friends and coworkers also had described him as experiencing hallucinations and paranoia in the years before the killings.

His mental illness, however, had not been diagnosed. His criminal record at that time involved a single drug arrest.

Court documents say Fitzpatrick insisted on pleading guilty despite saying he didn’t remember killing his girlfriend, Doreatha Hayes, or her 12-year-old daughter, Shenay. Documents also say he expressed confusion during the plea hearing.

When the judge at that 2002 hearing asked about the kinds of medications he was taking, Fitzpatrick replied that the medications prevented “him from hearing voice(s) and seeing things.”

Fitzpatrick said devil appeared to him

The violence began June 7, 2001. Fitzpatrick stabbed Shenay multiple times and struck her in the head with an ax handle. He also wrapped a ligature around her neck.

That same evening, after Doreatha came home, he beat her to death with a hatchet.

Fitzpatrick kept their bodies in the home for two days. On June 9, 2001, he walked across the street, rang a neighbor’s doorbell, and asked the neighbor, Betty Rose, to have her husband, Elton, come to his house. Once inside, Fitzpatrick killed Elton Rose with the hatchet.

Fitzpatrick then went back to the Roses’ door and tried to convince Betty Rose to come to his house. She refused, telling Fitzpatrick to have her husband come to the door. Around that same time, Lincoln Heights police officer Deangelo Sumler drove up in response to a silent 911 call.

Betty Rose pointed out Fitzpatrick standing on the sidewalk. Fitzpatrick approached Sumler, saying, “Come on in, he needs some help” and then ran inside his home. When the officer went into the house, Fitzpatrick pointed a .38-caliber revolver at him.

Sumler raised his hands, backed up to the door and ran. Fitzpatrick fired twice, missing the officer.

Sumler sought cover behind a large metal trash container. Fitzpatrick came out, aimed at Sumler, and fired a third shot. Sumler fired back. Fitzpatrick then got into Sumler's cruiser and drove away.

That same night, Fitzpatrick attacked a woman in her home and also robbed a woman of her car at knifepoint.

On June 10, 2001, Fitzpatrick told his cousin about the killings − and that the devil had appeared to him and sucked the life out of his body. The cousin called police, and Fitzpatrick was arrested at a Sharonville motel.

Other death sentences

Last year, two other death sentences from Hamilton County were overturned.

In September 2023, Judge Megan Shanahan found that Bobby Sheppard had schizophrenia, which significantly impaired his capacity to exercise rational judgment when he killed a man during a 1994 robbery.

And in October 2023, Judge Jennifer Branch found that Timothy Dunlap, who killed his girlfriend in 1991, had a serious mental illness. Before the killing, Dunlap had been committed to several inpatient mental health programs, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder while incarcerated.

Both Sheppard and Dunlap were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man whose execution was delayed 3 times has death sentence thrown out under new Ohio law