Fifteen prisoners awaited execution in Illinois, all sentenced after former Gov. George Ryan cleared death row in January 2003. Current Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill Wednesday abolishing the death penalty and he commuted their sentences to life in prison w
Fifteen prisoners awaited execution in Illinois, all sentenced after former Gov. George Ryan cleared death row in January 2003. Current Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill Wednesday abolishing the death penalty and he commuted their sentences to life in prison without parole. Here are the dates the inmates were placed on death row, followed by their name and a brief description of the crime for which they were convicted: 1: Feb. 27, 2003 — Anthony Mertz, for the rape, killing and mutilation of an Eastern Illinois University student. 2: April 26, 2004 — Ricardo Harris, after conviction for killing two Oak Lawn liquor store employees and hurting two people during a robbery. 3: April 26, 2004 — Teodoro Baez, for killing two people and dismembering their bodies with a sword after a drug dispute. 4: June 16, 2004 — Cecil Sutherland, for sexually assaulting and killing a 10-year-old Marion County girl. 5: August 17, 2004 — Andrew Urdiales, for the murder of a 21-year-old Hammond woman. 6: July 11, 2005 — Joseph Bannister, after conviction for shooting his ex-girlfriend and killing her sister. 7: June 6, 2006 — Paul Runge, for raping, killing and setting on fire a mother and her 10-year-old daughter. 8: Sept. 25, 2006 — Dion Banks, for killing a woman during a carjacking. 9: May 23, 2007 — Daniel Ramsey, after conviction for raping and killing a girl, shooting to death another girl and hurting three other people. 10: Aug. 8, 2007 — Rodney Adkins, for killing an Oak Park woman after breaking into her home. 11: March 21, 2008 — Gary Pate, for killing his wife and stepdaughter. 12: May 1, 2008 — Eric Hanson, for killing his sister and brother-in-law and his parents. 13: Oct. 21, 2008 — David Damm, for hiring an acquaintance to kill a 13-year-old girl to silence her accusations of sexual abuse. 14: Dec. 16, 2009 — Brian Dugan, for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 10-year-old suburban Chicago girl. 15: March 3, 2010 — Edward Tenney, for killing a 24-year-old Aurora man during a robbery. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. Photo Caption: Illinois Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, left, and Illinois Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Broadview, right, celebrate after Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in Illinois at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Illinois abolished the death penalty Wednesday, more than a decade after the state imposed a moratorium on executions out of concern that innocent people could be put to death by a justice system that had wrongly condemned 13 men. Gov. Pat Quinn also commuted the sentences of all 15 inmates remaining on death row. They will now serve life in prison with no hope of parole. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
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