By Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Parole Board has unanimously rejected mercy for the condemned killer of a storekeeper whose family opposes the upcoming execution.
Johnnie Baston is scheduled to die March 10 for the slaying of 53-year-old Chong-Hoon Mah, a South Korean immigrant who operated two retail stores in Toledo.
The nine-member board ruled Friday that Baston’s failure to accept responsibility and the severity of Mah’s execution-style killing outweigh the personal beliefs of Mah’s family about the death penalty.
Mah’s son, Peter Mah, says executing Baston won’t change anything and won’t bring back his father.
If put to death, Baston would become the first person in the United States executed with a single dose of pentobarbital, the new execution drug Ohio is switching to after supplies of the former drug ran out.