Trumbull County Prosecutor Wants Ohio to Challenge Death Penalty Limits on Child Rape

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is asking Ohio lawmakers to join a growing list of states pushing to reopen the death penalty for people convicted of raping children, even as he fights to keep a convicted baby rapist behind bars. The dual campaign centers on Felicia Beemer, who is scheduled for a parole hearing this month after pleading guilty to raping an eight-month-old relative and an 18-month-old boy she was babysitting, both crimes recorded on her cellphone.

Watkins, who is Ohio's longest-serving elected prosecuting attorney, is urging lawmakers from both parties to consider legislation that would add Ohio to the states seeking to challenge existing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, according to Cleveland.com. Watkins has served as Trumbull County's top prosecutor since 1984, personally prosecuting 46 murder trials that resulted in nine death sentences, according to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, and he established a specialized Child Assault Prosecution Unit back in 1986.

Beemer's Parole Bid Draws Fierce Opposition

Beemer, whose effective sentence date is November 2, 2012, is currently incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women serving an aggregate term of 15 years to life, while her husband Cody is serving 25 years to life for his role in the crimes, according to a report in The Vindicator. Watkins and Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman submitted an 11-page letter to the Ohio Parole Board arguing that Beemer remains dangerous based on her severe prison disciplinary record, according to the same account. Beemer became eligible for parole after serving 15 years of her sentence, and her hearing is scheduled for this month.

The prosecutors' fight over Beemer's release runs alongside a separate but related case that Watkins has cited in his push for expanded capital punishment: that of Danny Lee Hill, sentenced to death for the 1985 rape, torture, and murder of 12-year-old Boy Scout Raymond Fife in Warren. Hill has filed more than 30 appeals since his 1986 conviction, per the Tribune Chronicle. On August 17, the Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of Hill's latest intellectual-disability challenge to his death sentence, ruling that he had not met the legal requirements for a second postconviction petition and that a new expert opinion did not amount to newly discovered facts under Ohio law.

Executions Stalled Even as Prosecutors Push to Expand the Law

Even if Ohio wanted to expand who qualifies for the death penalty, the state has struggled for years to carry out the executions it already has on the books. Ohio has not executed anyone since Robert Van Hook was put to death on July 18, 2018, leaving 108 prisoners on death row in 2026 with an average stay exceeding 22 years, according to Cleveland.com. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has criticized the gridlock as a mockery of the justice system, the outlet reported.

Hill's own execution was delayed earlier this year when Governor Mike DeWine issued a reprieve pushing his scheduled July 22, 2026 execution date back to July 18, 2029, citing the state's inability to source lethal injection drugs from pharmaceutical suppliers, according to The Vindicator. DeWine, who co-authored Ohio's 1981 death penalty statute as a state senator, went further in June, publicly urging state legislators to abolish the death penalty altogether and stating he no longer believes capital punishment deters violent crime, according to PBS News.

A National Push to Retest a 2008 Supreme Court Limit

Watkins's call comes amid a broader national movement. Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, Arkansas and Oklahoma have passed similar legislation in recent years, and Alabama approved its own version in February 2026, according to Cleveland.com's reporting. Supporters of these state measures say the laws are intended to give the current Supreme Court a chance to reconsider its 2008 ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, while opponents warn the laws remain unconstitutional under existing precedent.

In that 2008 case, decided by a 5-4 vote with Justice Anthony Kennedy authoring the majority opinion, the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment bars the death penalty for child rape when the victim was not killed and death was not intended, according to Justia. That ruling remains the controlling precedent on the death penalty in non-homicide cases involving individual victims, and any proposed Ohio legislation would face constitutional challenges unless the Supreme Court revisits or overturns it. Federal courts have already begun probing that boundary — a St. Louis judge recently ignited a death penalty showdown when U.S. District Judge Joshua Divine wrote in United States v. Moore that Kennedy v. Louisiana does not prevent courts from finding that national consensus has shifted on capital punishment for non-homicide child sex offenses, citing new statutes in six states as evidence.

Watkins has bolstered his argument with a new national survey, citing Pew Research Center findings that most Americans support capital punishment for people convicted of murder. That survey, conducted July 6-12, 2026 among 3,554 adults, found 66% of U.S. adults favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder and 32% oppose it, with 68% saying they consider it morally justified in murder cases. That marks a rise from an April 2021 Pew survey that found 60% of adults favored the death penalty for murder. Still, Pew has cautioned that its recent online panel surveys are not directly comparable with its older telephone surveys, and separate polling has found that 59% of Americans do not believe the death penalty deters serious crime.