Arkansas’ governor on Friday said he intends to commute an inmate’s sentence from death to life without parole, four months after the prisoner and three others were spared from lethal injection.
Jason McGehee was convicted in Boone County on Jan. 8, 1998, of capital murder in the death of John Melbourne Jr.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he intends to grant clemency to McGehee based at least partly on the recommendation of the Arkansas Parole Board.
“In making this decision I considered many factors including the entire trial transcript, meetings with members of the victim’s family and the recommendation of the parole board,” Hutchinson said in a statement.
Hutchinson also noted the "disparity in sentence given to Mr. McGehee compared to the sentences of his co-defendants."
McGehee was one of eight inmates whose executions Hutchinson previously scheduled for April. Four of those inmates were put to death.
The sentence commutation for McGehee will become official about a 30-day comment period, a spokesman for the governor said.
Hutchinson on Friday also set the execution date for another inmate, Jack Gordon Greene.
Check back with Arkansas Online for updates on this story and read Saturday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
