AUTUMN CARTER - 6 months - / Convicted: Steven Smith - Mansfield, OH

Ohio Man Who Sexually Assaulted Baby Seeks Mercy
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS AP Legal Affairs Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio April 2, 2013 (AP)

Condemned killer Steven Smith's argument for mercy isn't an easy one. Smith acknowledges he intended to sexually assault his girlfriend's 6-month-old daughter but says he never intended to kill the baby.

The girl, Autumn Carter, of Mansfield, died because Smith was too drunk to realize his sexual assault was killing the child, Smith's attorneys were telling the Ohio Parole Board on Tuesday. And Ohio law is clear, they say: a death sentence requires an intent to kill the victim.

"The evidence suggests that Autumn's death was a horrible accident," his attorneys, Joseph Wilhelm and Tyson Fleming, said in a written argument prepared for the board.

They continued: "Despite the shocking nature of this crime, Steve's death sentence should be commuted because genuine doubts exist whether he even committed a capital offense."

Smith, 46, was never charged with sexual assault, meaning the jury's only choice was to convict or acquit him of aggravated murder, his attorneys say.
The Richland County prosecutor said Smith continues to hide behind alcohol as an excuse, and calls Smith's actions "the purposeful murder of a helpless baby girl."

Prosecutor James Mayer told the board in his own written statement that the girl's injuries are consistent with a homicide that contradicts Smith's claim he didn't intend to kill the girl.

"The horrific attack upon Autumn Carter showed much more than Smith's stated purpose," Mayer said.

Mayer said Monday he didn't know why Smith wasn't charged with rape, but said it wasn't part of a trial strategy.

The attack happened early in the morning of Sept. 29, 1998, in the Mansfield apartment of the girl's mother, Kaysha Frye, a woman Smith had been dating about six months.

Frye was awakened after 3 a.m. by a naked Smith, who placed Autumn beside her in bed, according to records prepared for the parole board hearing. Frye realized the girl wasn't breathing, told Smith he'd killed her, then ran to a neighbor's house for help.

Smith, known to consume as many as 12 beers a day, had had several beers earlier in the evening and had a blood-alcohol content of .123 — well above the legal limit for drivers — when he was tested almost eight hours later, at 11 a.m., records show.

Smith had unsuccessfully tried to have sex with his girlfriend the evening before the attack, according to records. The prosecutor argued that Smith's assault of the girl was revenge for Smith's failure to perform with Frye.

Smith's attorneys dispute this, saying the girlfriend was not upset with Smith.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Smith's attack lasted as long as 30 minutes, during which time Smith beat the girl to death.

Expert witnesses for Smith conclude he may have accidentally suffocated the girl within three to five minutes while he lay on top of her, according to Smith's clemency petition.

Smith's attorneys have an uphill battle in their argument because of the "moral repugnancy" surrounding the claim of partial innocence, said Doug Berman, an Ohio State University law professor and death penalty expert.

"But if the lawyers for this defendant can legitimately assert that the evidence doesn't show or support that this was an intentional killing, not only is it appropriate to bring this up at clemency, I think they're obliged, representing their client appropriately, to stress this point," Berman said.

If executed, Smith would become the 51st inmate put to death in Ohio since the state resumed executions in 1999. The state has enough of its lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, to execute Smith and two other inmates before the supply expires. Eight more inmates are scheduled to die from November through mid-2015.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ohio-man-sexually-assaulted-baby-seeks-mercy-18859981


This man should have been castrated and executed by now. To ask for mercy. Did he give the little baby mercy. He chose to drink and is totally responsible for his actions. William

Ohio Set to Execute Man in Baby Girl's Death



Steve Smith is set to be executed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. May 1, 2013, at the state prison in Lucasville, Ohio, for the death of a 6-month-old baby while she was being raped in Mansfield Ohio in 1998. (Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation/AP)

By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press
LUCASVILLE, Ohio May 1, 2013 (AP)

An Ohio man who admitted raping a 6-month-old baby but claims he never meant to kill her was set to be executed Wednesday after his last pleas for mercy failed.

Steve Smith, 46, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the state prison in southern Ohio at 10 a.m. for the September 1998 killing of his live-in girlfriend's infant daughter, Autumn Carter.

Smith, 46, denied killing Autumn for more than a decade but recently tried to get his sentence reduced to life in prison, arguing that he was too drunk to realize that his assault was killing the baby.

The Ohio Parole Board and Gov. John Kasich unanimously turned him down, with the board finding that Smith is among "the worst of the worst."

"Smith took the life of an innocent 6-month-old infant while using the baby to sexually gratify himself," the board said in its decision. "It is hard to fathom a crime more repulsive or reprehensible in character."

Smith spent his last hours in emotional visits with his family and eating his last meal while listening to a Cincinnati Reds game, prison officials said.

Smith visited with his only child, a 21-year-old daughter named Brittney, and his niece on Wednesday morning, prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.

She said the group also laughed during the hour-long visit, when they said their final goodbyes.

Smith ate his last meal of pizza, fried fish, chocolate ice cream and soda while listening to the Reds play the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night. He also spent part of the evening writing letters, listening to music and having his veins tested for the execution.

Smith's daughter and niece plan to witness the execution. They believe Smith is innocent despite his admission of guilt and maintain he only admitted to the crime because he's given up hope after 15 years of prison and has no memory of the assault.

"I know my dad's innocent," said 21-year-old Brittney Smith. "I do not believe he did this, and you know, he raised all my cousins and my sister before I was even born, and he never did anything (sexually)."

Autumn's mother, aunt and grandfather also plan to witness Smith's execution, and feel that it will bring some justice for her killing.

Back on that night of September 29, 1998, Autumn's mother, Kesha Frye, was awakened by Smith, who she'd lived with for four months.

Smith, extremely drunk and naked, laid a naked and lifeless Autumn on Frye's bed, according to court records.

Frye rushed the baby and her other 2-year-old daughter to a neighbor's house and called 911. Doctors spent more than an hour trying to revive her before she was pronounced dead.

The baby was covered in bruises and welts, had cuts on her forehead, and had severe injuries showing she had been brutally raped, although there was no semen.

At the home, there was no sign of forced entry, and police found a large amount of white cloth that came from Autumn's diaper strewn about; police found the rest of the diaper in a garbage bin outside, along with 10 empty beer cans and a T-shirt.

At the time, Smith told police that he "didn't do anything."

"I'm not sick like that," he said.

At trial, Smith didn't testify in his own defense on the advice of his attorneys, even as prosecutors repeatedly referred to him as a "baby raper," showed pictures of Autumn's battered body and told jurors that her assault lasted up to a half-hour.

Expert witnesses for Smith said he may have accidentally suffocated the girl within three to five minutes of the assault.

The jury found Smith guilty of aggravated murder and sentenced him to die.

At an April 2 hearing in which Smith sought to have his death sentence reduced to life in prison, he admitted to the crime and said he didn't mean to kill Autumn.

He told Ohio Parole Board that he was not in his right mind the night of the crime and has to live every day with what he did. He said he was sorry and wished he could ask Autumn for forgiveness.

Smith is set to become the 51st inmate put to death in Ohio since it resumed executions in 1999.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ohio-set-execute-man-baby-girls-death-19080286

Sometimes the victim does get real true justice. William

State Executes Man Who Raped, Killed Baby

Wednesday May 1, 2013 10:43 AM

LUCASVILLE, Ohio - An Ohio man convicted of killing a 6-month-old girl while raping her has been executed despite his arguments that he never meant to hurt her.

Steve Smith was executed at 10:29 a.m. Wednesday by lethal injection at the state prison in Lucasville after his pleas for mercy were denied.

The 46-year-old was convicted of aggravated murder in the September 1998 killing of his live-in girlfriend's daughter, Autumn Carter, in Mansfield.

Smith had tried to get his sentence reduced to life in prison, arguing that he was too drunk to realize his assault was killing Autumn and that he didn't mean to hurt her.

The Ohio Parole Board and Gov. John Kasich rejected his pleas.

Smith became the 51st inmate put to death in Ohio since it resumed executions in 1999.

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/05/01/columbus-state-executes-man-who-raped-killed-baby.html

Little Autumn got true justice. Life for a life. The little angel can rest in peace now. This monster won't hurt any more little one's. William

Thank God.

Hope he has fun in hell!

WTH??? He never meant to HURT her???

Well, he won't do that again. How does someone get to be soooo evil.