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Ohio Man Who Killed 3-Year-Old Girl Seeks Mercy
By: Associated Press
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A death row inmate who raped and killed his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter is citing a childhood of physical and sexual abuse as he asks the Ohio Parole Board for mercy.
Attorneys for condemned killer Ronald Phillips were to make their case at a clemency hearing that began Wednesday morning. They say no judge or jury ever heard the full story of the abuse Phillips suffered growing up.
A document filed with the parole board before the hearing says Phillips was repeatedly raped and beaten by his late father.
The 40-year-old Phillips is scheduled to die Nov. 14 for killing Sheila Marie Evans in 1993 in Akron.
The state says Phillips long denied he suffered such abuse and has only raised it with his execution imminent.