Ohio Executes Inmate Who Killed Neighbor In 1994

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Ohio on Tuesday executed an inmate who strangled his neighbor in 1994 to get money for alcohol and whose lethal injection was postponed a week when he tried to kill himself on death row by overdosing on pills.

Lawrence Reynolds Jr., 43, died by lethal injection at 10:27 a.m. Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

His death came nine days after prison guards found Reynolds unconscious in his cell from a suicide attempt. Reynolds became the fourth inmate to die by Ohio's new lethal injection procedure, which uses one drug instead of three.

Reynolds was convicted of killing Loretta Foster, a 67-year-old widow who baby-sat children in her neighborhood and lived three doors down from him in Cuyahoga Falls near Akron.

Prosecutors said Reynolds was an alcoholic who was out of work and needed money for booze. He forced his way into Foster's house, strangled her with rope and left with $40 in cash and a blank check from her purse.

"I came in like a lion and go out like a lamb," Reynolds said in a brief final statement while lying on the gurney.

He then addressed other inmates on death row and his unsuccessful legal challenge of Ohio's new execution method.

"To my brothers, I hope the will never have to walk these 15 steps I walked today," he said. "I have tried to bring attention to the futility and flagrantly flawed system we have today. Stop the madness."

In the witness room, Denise Turchiano, Foster's niece, replied, "It's going to stop right now."

Reynolds had sued the state, saying it still hasn't corrected problems with accessing inmates' veins before the single drug is injected. He lost his final court battle Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene.

Ernie Sanders, a spiritual adviser who met with Reynolds in prison, said Reynolds had expressed remorse for his killing. Reynolds attempted suicide last week because he wanted to die alone, he said.

"He just didn't want his last act of life to be what he considered to be a sideshow or a circus," Sanders said.

Prison officials have released few details about the suicide attempt. It's unclear if he had visitors before the overdose or stockpiled medication prescribed for him. Authorities have not identified the drug he took.

Reynolds' crime shattered the victim's family and tore apart his own.

Foster was like a grandmother to kids in the neighborhood and even baby-sat for Reynolds' three younger siblings. Reynolds had few family visits while in prison, and his parents wanted nothing to do with his request for clemency last summer.

Patty Solomon, Foster's granddaughter, said after the execution that justice had been served.

"It is time to put this behind us and move on with our lives," she said. "Our hearts are as broken today as they were 16 years ago."

Reynolds' childhood was marred by alcohol abuse, according to prison records. He graduated from high school and then spent six years in the Army. When he returned home, he couldn't hold down a job because of late-night drinking binges.

About a month before her murder, Foster hired Reynolds to paint her basement. Reynolds claimed he was promised $300 but only got $100, prosecutors said.

Reynolds harassed the widow for weeks - knocking on her door after dark, hiding outside and jumping out to scare her.

He went to the widow's house on Jan. 11, 1994, this time wearing camouflage clothing and carrying a wooden tent pole, which he used to beat Foster when she reached for a phone and tried to call for help, prosecutors said. Then he strangled her and removed her clothes.

At a bar later that night, Reynolds told a group of friends what happened. Unsure whether to believe him, the group went to Foster's house and saw her body lying on the floor. Two of the friends went to police.

At the trial, Reynolds' defense team didn't deny that Reynolds was responsible for the murder but attempted to show that he was drunk and had not gone to Foster's house intending to kill her.

He was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and attempted rape.

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