Two executions delayed by DeWine

VW independent staff/submitted information

COLUMBUS — Governor Mike DeWine has issued two more reprieves of execution:

• Antonio Franklin, who was scheduled to be executed on February 11, 2026. The new date of execution has been moved to February 15, 2029.
• James Trimble, who was scheduled to be executed on March 12, 2026. The new date of execution has been moved to March 14, 2029.

Franklin has been on death row since September of 1998 on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery, for killing his grandparents and an uncle with a baseball bat before setting fire to their Dayton home. This is his second reprieve.

Trimble has been on death row since November of 2005 on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, kidnapping and felonious assualt, for shooting and killing his girlfriend and her son.

As he has done with previous reprieves, DeWine blamed ongoing problems involving the willingness of pharmaceutical suppliers to provide drugs to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, pursuant to DRC protocol, without endangering other Ohioans. Other states have continued carrying out death sentences via lethel injection, while others have changed methods, including the use of a firing squad or nitrogen gas.

Since DeWine took office in 2019, there have been no executions in Ohio.