06 July, 2017
The statement Wednesday from Rachel Sutphin in support of clemency for William Morva comes one day before he is scheduled to be executed.
"I have no hatred for this creature who shot him execution-style".
Jeaneen Sutphin tells The Roanoke Times that she feels sympathy for Morva's family, but wants justice for her son. "If this comes to pass. if I shed a tear tomorrow, it will be for William Morva's mother, for I know where she will be".
Rachel Sutphin, the deputy's daughter, said in an email to reporters on Wednesday that she has asked Gov. Terry McAuliffe to spare Morva's life.
On Wednesday, McAuliffe said he personally does not support the death penalty, but he took the oath of office and must enforce the laws of the commonwealth.
The mother of one victim of a Virginia death row inmate says she hopes the man's execution proceeds as planned.
The 35-year-old Hungarian-American was sentenced to death in 2008 for the murder of a hospital security guard and a Sheriff's deputy.
Following his conviction on capital murder charges and just before he was sentenced to death, Morva went on a courtroom rant in which he declared his "slave name" was Nemo and said he didn't expect mercy.
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His case has reopened the debate in the United States about the execution of mentally unstable prisoners. There, he used a toilet paper holder to batter and overpower an officer and steal his gun, which he turned on unarmed hospital guard Derrick McFarland. The other was sheriff's deputy Eric Sutphin.
"The fairness of his trial has been reviewed, and reviewed, and reviewed with all courts, both state and federal, finding no unfairness or basis to overturn the voice of that jury", Pettitt wrote in a letter to the governor.
Morva is set to die by injection in the death house at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.
Morva's condition is such that he has ceased all communication with his legal team, gravely hampering their ability to defend him as his execution approaches.
"We are concerned at Mr. Morva's deteriorating psychosocial condition".
"The denial of reasonable accommodation in detention can be considered a form of discrimination against him because of his mental health condition", the experts said.
His clemency campaign has attracted local and worldwide supporters who say the jury that sentenced Morva to death was not informed of his severe mental illness.
