The Arkansas Parole Board has recommended the governor move forward with plans to execute one of seven inmates facing lethal injection later this month.
The board on Monday voted 7-0 that the clemency request by Jack Harold Jones Jr. was without merit. The ultimate decision on whether to spare Jones' life rests with Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Jones is one of seven inmates scheduled to die this month. His execution is set for April 24.
Jones requested clemency, but declined to appear before the board for his hearing Friday. In a handwritten letter read by his attorney, Jones said he would decline clemency if granted by the governor.
Jones was convicted of killing bookkeeper Mary Phillips and trying to kill her daughter, Lacy, during a 1995 robbery at an accounting office.
