An 81-year-old death row inmate who was convicted of the brutal murder of his young stepson died one month before he was scheduled to be executed by the state of Louisiana, according to local reports.
Christopher Sepulvado was expected to die by nitrogen gas March 17 — but the elderly inmate died early Sunday morning of “natural causes” after complications arose from a previous surgery, according to the Times-Picayune.
“Christopher Sepulvado’s death overnight in the prison infirmary is a sad comment on the state of the death penalty in Louisiana.,” Shawn Nolan, an attorney for Sepulvado, said in a statement. “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.”
Sepulvado’s execution would have been the first execution in Louisiana in 15 years, according to KSLA.
The man is convicted of beating his stepson, Wesley Allen Mercer, 6, with the handle of a screw driver before immersing the young boy in a tub of scalding water.
Medical examinations showed that more than half of the young boy’s body was covered in second-degree burns. His scalp had separated from his skull due to hemorrhaging and bleeding, according to the Times-Picayune.
At the trial, Sepulvado testified the boy accidentally fell into the tub, according to the outlet.
The boy’s mother was convicted of manslaughter in the case, according to the outlet.
Sepulvado had one of his legs amputated because of gangrene last week, according to the Times Picayune.