A Tennessee inmate was executed despite several corrections officers who say he protected them from other inmates.
Nicholas Sutton’s clemency bid, which claims he is “worth far more to our society and prison system alive than dead,” was denied by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday, according to CNN. He was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m. at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
“After careful consideration of Nicholas Sutton’s request for clemency and a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the state of Tennessee and will not be intervening,” Lee said.
Sutton, 58, was given the death penalty after he was convicted of stabbing another inmate to death in 1985. During that time, he was serving three life sentences for murdering his grandmother and two other people.
Sutton’s defense attorney, Kevin Sharp, credits Sutton with saving the lives of three prison officials in a clemency application sent to Lee in January.
Cheryl Donaldson, a former prison manager, said in 1994 that she fell and hit the ground inside a prison where Sutton was being held. According to the application, she was carrying her keys and radio during the slip and said inmates could have taken advantage of her.
“Nick, however, did exactly the opposite. He sprang into action, helped me to my feet, retrieved my keys and radio, and alerted staff to come to my assistance,” Donaldson said.
Another former corrections officer, Tony Eden, said Sutton helped save his life during a 1985 prison riot.
“A group of five inmates, armed with knives and other weapons, surrounded me and attempted to take me hostage. Nick and another inmate confronted them, physically removed me from the situation, and escorted me to the safety of the trap gate in another building,” Eden recounted. “I owe my life to Nick Sutton.”
The application also described how Sheriff’s Deputy Howard Ferrell, who is now dead, testified that in 1979 Sutton prevented another inmate from hitting him in the back of the head while he was inside a Tennessee jail.
Sutton’s death sentence came after he stabbed another inmate, Carl Estep, 38 times, killing him. Sutton was already imprisoned for murdering his grandmother, 58-year-old Dorothy Sutton. He also pleaded guilty and received two more life sentences for murdering John Large, 19, and 46-year-old Charles Almon.
Some of the family members of the victims say Sutton should be spared. Charles Maynard, Almon’s nephew, who is now a Methodist minister, said he doesn’t want to see Sutton die. He recalled one of his aunts told him, “You know that man is on death row, and you know we don’t need to kill him.”
Dorothy Sutton’s nephew, Lowell Sutton, said Nicholas Sutton was a “victim of circumstances,” citing his troubled upbringing.
Despite those opposed, Amy Large Cook, who was 11 years old when her 19-year-old brother was killed, said she wants Sutton to be executed.
“I want him to be electrocuted,” Large Cook said. “But, for his sake, I hope he has changed, and he has nobody to be judged by except his maker.”
Sutton chose to be executed by electric chair because of reported problems with lethal injection.
