Arizona court to rule in Shawn Ryan Grell's death sentence, convicted of killing 2-year-old daughter
Shawn Grell. View crime information .
Photographer: azcorrections.gov
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 01/09/2013
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By: Associated Press
PHOENIX - The Arizona Supreme Court has concluded that a man was mentally disabled and cannot be executed for murdering his 2-year-old daughter by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.
The state Supreme Court's unanimous ruling Wednesday overturns Shawn Ryan Grell's death sentence by reducing it to natural life in prison.
Grell was convicted of the Dec 2, 1999 murder of the Kristen Grell in the desert near Mesa.
The court's ruling say the killing was "horrific" and devastating to the family but that Grell's sentence must be reduced.
The justices say that's because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it would be constitutionally prohibited cruel and unusual punishment to execute someone with mental retardation.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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