An inmate on death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute near Columbus, Ohio, hanged himself in his cell three days before his scheduled execution.
Billy Slagle, 44, was found dead in his cell Sunday morning around 5 a.m. Officials would not say what Slagle used to hang himself, but only that it was an item he was allowed to have in the cell.
Slagle was convicted and given the death penalty in 1988 when he stabbed and killed his neighbor, Mari Ann Pope, during an attempted robbery while two young children were in the house, ABC reports.
Since Slagle was only 18 at the time of his conviction, his lawyers argue that he had a difficult childhood and that should have been considered.
According to Gawker his lawyers were still fighting to stop the execution, arguing that at the time Slagle was given death penalty jurors were not allowed to sentence a convict to life in prison without parole, which they now are.
Slagle was alone in his cell before the suicide and was going to be put on 24-hour suicide watch later on Sunday, before his execution Wednesday.