COLUMBUS, Ohio (WLIO) — A Lima man on death row will not be executed until 2029, Governor Mike DeWine announced.
The execution date for 47-year-old Cleveland Jackson has been moved from July 2026 to June 2029. DeWine has cited ongoing difficulties obtaining drugs for lethal injections as the reason for multiple execution delays in recent years.
Jackson was convicted, along with his half-brother Jeronique Cunningham, of shooting and killing 17-year-old Leneshia Williams and 3-year-old Jayla Grant during a 2002 apartment robbery on Eureka Street in Lima. Eight people were shot during the incident.
In an interview with Your News Now in early January, DeWine said he plans to make a statement in the coming weeks regarding the future of the death penalty in Ohio. Any changes to the sentence would require action by the Ohio General Assembly.
