Governor delays more executions amid drug shortage

Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine delayed two death row inmates’ 2021 executions as the state’s unofficial death penalty moratorium continues.

The announcement came as Ohio struggles to find an adequate supply of drugs for lethal injection.

The Republican governor’s warrants of reprieve were issued for condemned prisoners Melvin Bonnell and Cleveland Jackson.

The reprieves moved Bonnell’s execution from March 18, 2021 to Oct. 18, 2023, and Jackson’s from Jan. 13, 2021 to June 15, 2023.

Bonnell was sentenced to die for killing Robert Bunner in Bunner’s Cleveland apartment in 1987. Jackson was sentenced to die for fatally shooting 17-yearold Leneshia Williams in Lima in 2002 in a drug-related robbery at a crowded home.

Both inmates have had previous execution dates rescheduled.

Dewine has repeatedly said the state is at a standstill because it’s unable to obtain drugs for lethal injection.

He's also expressed concern that drug companies—which oppose use of their drugs in executions—could pull pharmaceuticals from state hospitals to punish Ohio if it did find a lethal drug supply.

Cuyahoga County has the most deaths, with 599, and the secondhighest number of cases at 16,066. Hamilton County reported the thirdhighest number of cases at 11,580, and Lucas County reported the thirdmost deaths with 348, according to the state.

Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center announced Friday that it will participate in another vaccine and treatment effort as part of “Operation Warp Speed.” The operation is a federally funded program created to expedite the creation of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

The ACTIV-2 clinical trial that started at Ohio State on Friday is testing the efficacy of lab-manufactured neutralizing antibodies to treat adults who have COVID-19 but are not hospitalized. The hope is that the antibodies made by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will prevent progression of the disease and help patients recover rapidly, according to Ohio State.

Earlier this week, Ohio State announced that it’s seeking 500 volunteers to participate in a national COVID-19 vaccine trial. The trial is for Astrazeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine called AZD1222.

Although an effective treatment or vaccine might still be months if not years away, Americans already are making up their minds about whether they’ll take advantage of one.

Two-thirds of U.S. voters said they won’t try to get a coronavirus vaccine as soon as it becomes available, and one in four say they don’t want to ever get it, according to a new USA Today/suffolk poll. Earlier this week, the United States surpassed 6 million cases of COVID-19 and the country is edging closer to 200,000 deaths caused by the virus. mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby