A Louisiana inmate who was on death row for more than 30 years has died ‘from natural causes’ just weeks before his scheduled execution.
Christopher Sepulvado, 81, murdered his six-year-old stepson Allen after the child returned home from school with soiled pants, the CT Post reported.
In a fit of rage, the DeSoto Parish bashed the child’s head repeatedly with a screwdriver and submerged him in unbearably hot water until he died in 1992. He was charged with murder and sentenced to capital punishment in 1993.
After spending decades locked up in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, he was set finally to be executed by by nitrogen gas on March 17.
But the terminally-ill prisoner died of ‘natural causes as a result of complications arising from his pre-existing medical conditions’ on Saturday night, according to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
If he had not passed away on Saturday, he would have been the first inmate executed in the state in 15 years. He also would have been Louisiana’s first person to be executed by nitrogen gas.
Sepulvado’s attorney Shawn Nolan wrote in a Sunday statement: ‘Christopher Sepulvado’s death overnight in the prison infirmary is a sad comment on the state of the death penalty in Louisiana.
‘The idea that the state was planning to strap this tiny, frail, dying old man to a chair and force him to breathe toxic gas into his failing lungs is simply barbaric.’
Christopher Sepulvado, 81, pictured with his spiritual advisor Alison McCrary died just weeks before he was scheduled to face the death penalty
Sepulvado was found guilty of murdering his six-year-old stepson Allen after the child soiled his pants
The deceased inmate’s lawyers said he had just arrived back at the prison after going to a New Orleans hospital to have his leg amputated, USA Today reported.
Sepulvado’s spirtual advisor Alison McCrary agreed with Nolan’s sentiment, sharing a photos of herself with the killer on her social media pages, along with a detailed message.
‘Christopher Sepulvado’s death overnight allowed him to transition home to his Creator on his own terms with his dignity in place as opposed to the State’s cruel and barbaric execution date of March 17th,’ she wrote.
‘The scheduling of an execution of an 81-year old terminally-ill tiny man who would be strapped to an execution chair and gassed to death with poison shows how barbaric our criminal legal system is.
‘If Chris’ case isn’t an example of what is wrong with the use of the death penalty in the United States, I am not sure which case is. I pray that our government’s leaders reconsider their cruel and unnecessary plan to execute people.’
Sepulvado and other inmates are listed as the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that challenges the state’s death penalty.
However, many believe the opposite of McCrary and Nolan – asserting that the criminal’s 30-year death row stint was a failure of the state’s justice system.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told USA Today: ‘Justice should have been delivered long ago for the heinous act of brutally beating then scalding to death a defenseless six-year-old boy.’
The killer was on death row for more than 30 years while being held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary
Sepulvado would have been the first person executed by the state in 15 years and the first person in Louisiana to ever be executed by nitrogen gas
The state had put a pause on all death penalties for 15 years and had began carrying out those sentences once again last month.
Officials decided to stop executions because the practice lacked political support and it became difficult to secure dosages of lethal injection drugs, the CT Post reported.
Last year, Republican Governor Jeff Landry re-introduced to ultimate penalty in 2024, allowing for nitrogen gas executions and electrocutions.
‘For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promises made to victims of our State’s most violent crimes,’ Landry said in a statement.
