Court won’t review death sentence in prison riot murders

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The U.S. Supreme Court won’t reconsider the case of a death row inmate convicted in the slayings of five fellow inmates during a 1993 prison riot in Ohio.

Forty-eight-year-old Keith LaMar was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 for the deaths of five inmates during an uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution at Lucasville. He received the death penalty for four of the five killings.

Justices rejected LaMar’s petition Friday.

LaMar wanted his case reconsidered in light of a high court ruling last year that found Florida’s death penalty sentencing method unconstitutional.

Justices in that case said Florida’s system gave judges too much power and juries not enough power to decide capital cases. LaMar argued the new standard should also apply to his case because Ohio’s system is similar.