A convicted child killer from Ohio delayed his legal execution when he asked to donate his organs to ailing family members, The Associated Press reported.
Ronald Phillips, 40, raped and killed his girlfriend's three-year old daughter in 1993. If a match, his kidney would help his mother, who's on dialysis for a kidney disease, and his heart could extend the life of his sister, who has a heart ailment, according to The AP.
Ohio Gov. John Kasisch decided to postpone Phillips' lethal injection, which was scheduled for Thursday, because of the unprecedented nature of the request and, ultimately, because he believed the world should use Phillips' organs.
"I realize this is a bit of uncharted territory for Ohio, but if another life can be saved by his willingness to donate his organs and tissues then we should allow for that to happen," Kasich said in a statement.
Phillips will live until at least July 2, the new date for his execution. He'll soon undergo tests to see if he is a match for his mom and/or sister, The AP reported.
Though the Ohio prison system allows its inmates to donate non-life-sustaining organs, Phillips' initial request was rebuffed because it came too close to his execution, according to The AP. Shortly before, his appeal for mercy had been denied by Kasisch, who would eventually make the overriding decision to keep Phillips alive.
A similar case occurred in Ohio in 1995, when a man on death row donated a kidney to his mother. That request, and the subsequent procedure, was carried out well in advance of the man's execution. Donations of vital organs are not allowed in the United States, The AP reported.
"If the whole idea is to save a life, there's one life to be saved simply by not executing the person at all," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, an organization against the death penalty.
