MEDIA ADVISORY
CONTACT: Abraham Bonowitz, abe@otse.org, 561-371-5204
Group to Walk from Death House to Capitol Communities Invited for Dialog with Unusual Advocates
Advance Interviews Available
Photo Ops & Interviews Available Daily
Columbus – Starting at 8:30am on Sunday October 4, death penalty abolitionists from Ohio and beyond will begin a 7 day, 83 mile walk from the Lucasville prison where Ohio conducts executions to the Statehouse in Columbus, calling for an end to capital punishment. More than a dozen participants are registered to walk the entire route, and hundreds of supporters from across Ohio are expected for the final leg to the Statehouse on Saturday, October 10, which is observed internationally as World Day Against the Death Penalty.
At evening programs in Portsmouth (10/3), Chillicothe (10/5), Circleville (10/7), and Columbus (10/9), residents of local communities are invited to conversations about the death penalty with walkers and special guests with unique “voices of experience.” Special guests, all of whom are available for advance telephone interviews and some of whom will walk the entire route, include:
- Derrick Jamison, who was exonerated in 2005 after serving 20 years on Ohio’s death row for a crime he did not commit
- Terry Collins, who retired as Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections after participating in 33 executions
- Sam Reese Sheppard, whose father, Dr. Sam Sheppard, was wrongly convicted in the murder of Sam’s mother in the infamous and as-yet unsolved 1954 Cleveland case which has inspired numerous books, television programs and movies.
- Dr. Jeff Hood, a Southern Baptist Minister who has engaged with death row prisoners in Texas. He is the author of seven books, including Jesus on Death Row, and Last Words from Texas: Meditations from the Execution Chamber.
To schedule advance interviews and for additional details contact Abe Bonowitz at abe@otse.org or 561-371-5204. Additional information, including the Walk to Stop Executions itinerary and local event details, is available at Walk to Stop Executions.
This event is jointly organized by Scioto Peace & Justice Fellowship of Reconciliation, Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center, Footprints for Peace, Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio, and Ohioans to Stop Executions.