The Arizona Supreme Court has concluded that a man was mentally disabled and cannot be executed for murdering his 2-year-old daughter by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.
The unanimous ruling Wednesday reduces Shawn Ryan Grell's death sentence to natural life in prison.
Grell was convicted of the 1999 murder of Kristen Grell in the desert near Mesa.
The court's ruling say the killing was "horrific" and devastating to the family but that Grell's sentence must be reduced.
The justices say that's because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it would be constitutionally prohibited cruel and unusual punishment to execute someone with mental retardation.
The ruling on Grell says there was more evidence of his mental disability in recent court proceedings than earlier in his case.
Juggernaut8000 posted at 2:51 pm on Wed, Jan 9, 2013.
The Arizona Supreme Court has done a tremendous injustice to the victim and taxpayer who wanted justice for her.
This creature killed his own daughter in the most horrific way and he will now spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each one of those judges should be personally responsible to pay for his room and board.
Camelot5263 posted at 3:54 pm on Wed, Jan 9, 2013.
He had the state of mind to sign his daughter out of daycare with her Mother's name, that tells me...He knew what he was doing. I hope he gets what he deserves in prison. There was no justice for this little girl. Our judicial system has no backbone or balls, this is why our Country is in the toilet.
VofReason posted at 1:18 pm on Thu, Jan 10, 2013.
This person will pay the ultimate price when he is judged by his maker. Much has been said about limiting firearms and what should or shouldn't be able to be done to the mentally ill. This was one child, but as stated above, was killed in the most horrific manner. This person, mentally challenged or not, is pure evil. They should bring back public hanging. May change the mind of some of these nutballs. Not sure that life in prison sends the same message.