COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A condemned inmate who raped andkilled a pregnant woman deserves mercy
because of his chaotic andabusive childhood and the failure of his original attorneys to work hardenough on
his behalf, the defendant’s new lawyers argued before theOhio state Parole Board.Death row prisoner Dennis
McGuire alsowas mentally, physically and sexually abused as a child and has impairedbrain function that
makes him prone to act impulsively, the lawyerssaid in a filing with the board, which heard McGuire’s case
for clemencyThursday."Dennis was at risk from the moment he was born. Thelack of proper nutrition,
chaotic home environment, abuse, lack ofpositive supervision and lack of positive role models all
affectedDennis’ brain development," the lawyers said in the filing.McGuire is scheduled to die Jan. 16
for the February 1989 stabbing death of Joy Stewart in western Ohio’s Preble County.Thestate plans to use a
never-tried lethal injection process on the53-year-old McGuire, with the specific chemicals to be announced
twoweeks before the execution.Those chemicals were to have been usedon death row inmate Ron Phillips in
November, but he received areprieve until July after he expressed a desire to donate his organs. Ingranting
the reprieve, Gov. John Kasich said he wanted to allow timefor medical experts to study whether Phillips
could donate non-vitalorgans, such as a kidney, before being executed. Phillips’ mother haskidney disease
and a sister has heart problems.Ohio’s supply ofits former drug, pentobarbital, has expired, and
FDA-regulated versionsare no longer available because the manufacturer has put it off limitsfor
executions.That leaves Ohio with two choices. The first is aspecialty dose of pentobarbital from compounding
pharmacies, which areregistered with the state but not federally regulated.The secondis a two-drug
combination of a sedative, midazolam, and a painkiller,hydromorphone, which has never been used in a U.S.
execution.Prosecutorsin Preble County say a death sentence is appropriate for such ashocking crime. Stewart,
22, was newly married and about 30 weekspregnant when she was killed."One can scarcely conceive of
asequence of crimes more shocking to the conscience or to moralsensibilities than the senseless kidnapping
and rape of a young,pregnant woman followed by her murder," prosecutors said in their filingwith the
board.DNA tests over the years have established McGuire as the killer.McGuire’sattorneys say a plea bargain
that was offered to McGuire but rejectedshould be taken into consideration, since it shows the state at one
timedidn’t believe a death sentence was necessary.Prosecutors say McGuire’s decision not to accept that
offer is part of his refusal to accept responsibility for the crime.___Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached
on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.