Execution date set for inmate convicted in prison riot

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has set an execution date nearly five years in the future for an inmate sentenced to die in the slayings of fellow inmates during a 1993 prison riot.

Keith LaMar was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 for the deaths of five inmates during a riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. He received the death penalty for four of the killings.

A special prosecutor had asked the court to set an execution date, saying LaMar had exhausted his appeals.

The high court on Wednesday scheduled an execution date of Nov. 16, 2023.

Lamar’s lawyers declined to comment Wednesday. They argue the only evidence against the 49-year-old prisoner came from inmates that authorities never corroborated and that further proof of his innocence was withheld.