Condemned white man who sexually assaulted baby until she died pleads for mercy saying he didn’t intend to kill the 6-month-old girl. . . just rape her
In a desperate bid to save his life, convicted Ohio baby killer Steven Smith has asserted that he never meant to murder his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter – only to sexually assault her.
The girl, Autumn Carter, of Mansfield, Ohio, died in 1998 because Smith was too drunk to realize his sexual assault was killing the child, Smith’s attorneys planned to tell the Ohio Parole Board Tuesday. And Ohio law is clear, they say: a death sentence requires an intent to kill the victim.
‘The evidence suggests that Autumn’s death was a horrible accident,’ his attorneys, Joseph Wilhelm and Tyson Fleming, said in a written argument prepared for the board.
They continued: ‘Despite the shocking nature of this crime, Steve’s death sentence should be commuted because genuine doubts exist whether he even committed a capital offense.’
Smith, 46, was never charged with sexual assault, meaning the jury’s only choice was to convict or acquit him of aggravated murder, his attorneys say.
The Richland County prosecutor says Smith continues to hide behind alcohol as an excuse, and calls Smith’s actions ‘the purposeful murder of a helpless baby girl.’
Prosecutor James Mayer told the board in his own written statement that the girl’s injuries are consistent with a homicide that contradicts Smith’s claim he didn’t intend to kill the girl.
‘The horrific attack upon Autumn Carter showed much more than Smith’s stated purpose,’ Mayer said.
Mayer said Monday he didn’t know why Smith wasn’t charged with rape, but said it wasn’t part of a trial strategy.