Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will not grant clemency to a man scheduled to be executed next week for a 2001 slaying in Williamsburg.
Jerry Terrell Jackson is slated to die by lethal injection Thursday for raping and killing 88-year-old Ruth Phillips in her apartment August 2001.
“After conferring with the appropriate parties, as well as thoroughly reviewing the clemency petition and the judicial opinions in this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence of the jury, imposed and affirmed by the courts,” McDonnell said in a statement. “Accordingly, I decline to intervene.”
McDonnell’s decision means Jackson’s only hope is that the U.S. Supreme Court will step in the halt the execution. Court records show he filed an appeal with the nation’s highest court earlier this month.
Jackson’s attorneys argue that the jury in his 2002 trial wasn’t given a complete picture of the abuse Jackson suffered as a child, and that evidence could have convinced the jury to not impose the death penalty.
“We respect the governor’s decision, but we are profoundly disappointed that he chose not to intervene in this instance,” defense attorney Josh Toll told the Associated Press.
