Execution dates scheduled for 2 death row inmates

CLEVELAND — The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday set the execution date for a Cleveland man convicted of murder in 1985 for murdering a man in a spat over a sewing machine.

Percy “June” Hutton, convicted of killing Derek “Ricky” Mitchell and attempting to murder Samuel Simmons Jr., will be put to death on June 22, 2022.

Hutton, 63, shot Mitchell and Simmons, Mitchell’s acquaintance, after accusing Mitchell of stealing a sewing machine, which had $750 hidden in it.

A judge sentenced him to death in 1986.

The state has set execution dates for Hutton multiple times, but all have been pushed back as he continues to challenge his case in court.

Most recently, a federal appeals court overturned his death sentence in 2016, citing faulty jury instructions. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Hutton’s death sentence in June.

The state’s high court on Friday also set an execution date of Aug. 24, 2022 for Cedric Carter of Cincinnati, who murdered United Dairy Farmers convenience store clerk Frances Messinger during a robbery in 1992.

Carter’s attorney, Keith Yeazel, argues the 44-yearold inmate also still has appeals pending

Ohio resumed executing death-row inmates in July, following a two-and-a-half year reprieve. Gary Otte, a man who killed two in Parma in 1992, was executed Sept. 13.

The state has scheduled 27 executions through 2022, with Alva Campbell being the next set to die Nov. 15.

Campbell, 69, overpowered a Franklin County deputy sheriff and stole a gun. He then shot Charles Dials, 18, during a carjacking.