APNewsBreak: Lawyer familiar with ruling says execution off for Ohio inmate claiming innocence

APNewsBreak: Ohio inmate death sentence commuted

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A lawyer familiar with the decision says Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has commuted the death sentence of an inmate who claims innocence in a triple slaying.

The attorney tells The Associated Press that Strickland will announce Thursday that he has commuted Kevin Keith’s death sentence to life without parole.

The attorney spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made public by Strickland.

Keith was scheduled to die Sept. 15 by injection for the 1994 shooting deaths of three people, including a 4-year-old girl.

Strickland’s office would not comment.