Steven Smith's 2013 clemency bid — and what happened next

This piece is written without graphic detail, out of respect for the victim and her family.

The crime

In the early hours of September 29, 1998, six-month-old Autumn Carter died in a Mansfield, Ohio apartment after an attack by her mother's boyfriend, Steven Smith. Smith was convicted of aggravated murder in 1999 and sentenced to death. (The original version of this article's title said 1999; the attack occurred in 1998, the conviction in 1999.)

The clemency argument

Facing a May 1, 2013 execution date, Smith's attorneys asked the Ohio Parole Board to recommend clemency to Governor John Kasich. Their argument was unusual: Smith never meant to kill the child, they said — only to sexually assault her. Since Ohio law requires intent to kill for a death sentence, and Smith was never charged with sexual assault (leaving the jury only the choice of convicting or acquitting on aggravated murder), they argued "genuine doubts exist whether he even committed a capital offense." Smith's attorneys said the evidence suggested her death was accidental — possibly suffocation within minutes — and that his blood-alcohol level (0.123 when tested eight hours later) showed he was heavily intoxicated.

Richland County Prosecutor James Mayer called that "the purposeful murder of a helpless baby girl," arguing the injuries were inconsistent with an accident and that the attack — which prosecutors said lasted up to 30 minutes — contradicted the no-intent claim.

The victim's mother, Kaysha Frye, told the Mansfield News Journal she wanted Smith executed. Autumn's aunt, who was six when her niece died, spoke to the board about a loss that "still affects our family to this day."

Legal experts noted the argument's difficulty: as Ohio State law professor Doug Berman observed, the "moral repugnancy" of the claim made it an uphill battle — but if the evidence genuinely didn't support intent, the lawyers were obliged to raise it.

The outcome

The parole board recommended against clemency, and Governor Kasich denied it. Steven Smith was executed by lethal injection on May 1, 2013 — the 51st inmate put to death in Ohio since the state resumed executions in 1999.

Archive summary, April 2013 (with the May 2013 outcome added), based on contemporary reporting.