Citing Catholic faith, family of victim seeks to keep condemned killer from lethal injection

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Several families of murdered victims are pushing away from the death penalty as a punishment, citing the agony of the prolonged process. (The Associated Press)

By John Caniglia, The Plain Dealer
on January 30, 2014 at 11:22 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Irene Allain and her family want to prevent condemned killer Gregory Lott's execution. And they're relying on their faith to do it.

Allain is the daughter of John McGrath, the 82-year-old man Lott is convicted of killing a vicious attack in East Cleveland in July 1986. Nearly 28 years later, Lott is scheduled to die March 19 for the crime. And Allain and her family are pushing that the sentence be changed from death to life in prison.

"Although it has been difficult for me to come to terms with how my father died, I do not agree with executing Gregory Lott,'' Allain wrote in an affidavit that Lott's attorneys are using to seek clemency for him. "I am a devout Catholic, as is my family.

"I believe that life in prison is a just punishment for Gregory Lott. I believe his death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment.''

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/01/citing_catholic_faith_family_o.html



Gregory Lott