Ohio death row inmate who made suicide attempt wanted to deny state chance to kill him

Ohio death row inmate overdosed on antidepressant

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State records show that an Ohio inmate tried to commit suicide with an overdose of antidepressants two days before his scheduled execution to deny the state the chance to kill him.

Forty-three-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr. was executed by lethal injection on March 16 after a seven-day postponement. He had been found unconscious in his death row cell March 7.

An investigation released by the Ohio prisons department Thursday says Reynolds took about 30 prescribed tablets and likely “cheeked” the pills and stockpiled them.

The report says medical and security staff failed to properly monitor Reynolds’ medication intake and to search him.

An investigator writes that Reynolds “stated that his intention was to end it and not give the state any satisfaction of killing him.”