Human Rights: Pennsylvania Governor one short of a hundred death warrants

Governor Edward G. Rendell has signed execution warrants for John Amos Small, 49, who sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in York County in 1981; and Antoine Ligons, 30, who murdered a pizza deliveryman in Philadelphia in 1996.

In August 1981, John Small and his friend, James Frey, sexually assaulted and beat to death 18-year-old Cheryl Smith in a wooded area in West Manheim Township, York County. After over a decade of silence from several witnesses, police finally charged Small and Frey in Smith's death. In 1996, a jury convicted Small of first-degree murder and attempted rape and then sentenced him to death. The state Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence in November 1999 and denied reargument in January 2000. After filing a Post Conviction Relief Act petition, Small was granted a new trial, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision and reinstated the death sentence on Oct. 5.

In April 1996, Ligons robbed and shot to death pizza deliveryman Clarence Johnson in front of Johnson's wife, who had accompanied him on the delivery in West Philadelphia. In 1999, a jury found Ligons guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, and possessing an instrument of crime and sentenced Ligons to death. The state Supreme Court affirmed Ligons' conviction and death sentence in 2001, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 2002. The Post Conviction Relief Act court granted Ligons a new penalty hearing, but the state Supreme Court reversed that decision, reinstated his death sentence, and denied his application for reargument earlier this year.

Small's execution by lethal injection is set for Dec. 16, and Ligons' is set for Dec. 17. Both are held at the State Correctional Institution at Greene.

With the warrants signed today, Governor Rendell has now signed 99 death warrants.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

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