COLUMBUS, Ohio — A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers is introducing a bill meant to stop the "funding of death" in the state — no more death penalty and no dollars for physician-assisted suicide or abortions.
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Time doesn’t always heal all wounds.
“I break down and cry," Rhonda Whitelock said. "It's been eight years and I still do this.”
It has never gotten easier for Whitelock, who continues to fight for her lifelong best friend, Suzanne Taylor — who was more like a sister.
"I have not forgotten my best friend; I have not forgotten her two daughters; I have not forgotten what happened," Whitelock said. "It's every day I relive it again."
She is waiting on the death penalty for George Brinkman, Jr.
He pleaded guilty to brutally murdering Taylor, 45, and her two daughters in North Royalton in 2017. The details of this case are important for the public to know, Whitelock said.
Brinkman took the family of three hostage and then slit the throat of Taylor in front of her children. He then smothered Taylor Pifer, 21, with a pillow and strangled Kylie Pifer, 18, with a phone cord.
RELATED: Man who murdered North Royalton mother and her 2 daughters sentenced to death
After Brinkman killed the family of three, he drove to Stark County and shot and killed elderly couple Rogell and Roberta John.
But as the years go by, the spree murderer continues to sit on death row.
"If he was gone, I would feel some kind of relief — stop the nightmares," she told me.
We've spoken to Whitelock for years about her pleas to execute Brinkman.
RELATED: Best friend of murder victims urges Ohio Gov. DeWine to allow death penalty
There has been a pause on the death penalty in Ohio since Gov. Mike DeWine took office.
In 2020, DeWine declared lethal injection “no longer an option,” citing a federal judge’s ruling that the protocol could cause inmates “severe pain and needless suffering.”
Last year, he told reporters that no other capital punishment would happen while he is in charge.
"We will not as long as I am governor," DeWine said.
Now, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to make that pause permanent.
"The state should not be subsidizing death," state Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) said. "It should not be subsidizing ending human life, no matter the form, no matter the circumstance."
Mathews and state Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) are the House sponsors of a not-yet-introduced piece of legislation that would ban any state funds from going toward the death penalty.
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), Senate Assistant Minority Leader Hearcel (D-Columbus) and Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) joined them in leading the charge for the other chamber.
"It is my opinion that there's one being that should decide if you live or die — it's the Lord," Huffman said. "It should not be a judge or a prosecutor."
Antonio added that the punishment draws out the legal process for victims' families. She also fears that the wrong person may be convicted.
"It's been found to be expensive, impractical, unjust, inhumane and erroneous, as indicated by Ohio's 11 death row exonerates," the minority leader added.
It also disproportionately impacts people of color. Capital defendants charged with killing a white victim in Ohio are twice as likely to receive a death sentence as those charged with killing a Black person, Ohioans To Stop Executions found.
Plus, it is incredibly expensive for the state.
"As a Republican and a fiscal conservative — if you want to save money, say $20 to $30 million a year, you would vote to abolish the death penalty," Huffman told me back in 2023.
RELATED: The death penalty costs Ohio hundreds of millions of dollars. It hasn’t been used in years
But the bill does more than just abolish capital punishment.
It would also prevent any state funding from going toward physician-assisted suicide and abortion access. Not only is assisted suicide illegal in Ohio, but taxpayer dollars already can’t go to either. Both Republican and Democratic sponsors say this wouldn’t impact reproductive healthcare.
"This is a compromise, right?" Antonio said. "My preference would have been to introduce the same bill that we've introduced for all these years. However, we were not possible to get a majority of our colleagues in the legislature to sign on to commit to voting for it."
Schmidt, one of the most vocal anti-abortion lawmakers, agreed that nothing new to change abortion policy would be added to their bill.
"Our bill does not change anyone's ability to have an abortion, but state dollars should never be used in that process," Schmidt said.
So why even add the abortion provision?
"I see this as a restating of values," Antonio said.
Still, House Democrats are wary — and so are abortion rights groups. The language of the bill is not out yet, so it is unclear what it will actually say.
"Obviously, we are going to oppose anything that undermines access to reproductive choice and freedom," House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said.
Other abortion rights advocates brought up the lack of trust they have in the sponsors since religion was a constant theme in the press conference. The Catholic Conference of Ohio spoke, and nearly all lawmakers brought up God and redemption in at least some way.
Whitelock, a Catholic, had a problem with this.
"We're supposed to keep Church and State separate — and our religious beliefs separate," Whitelock said.
But if she were to insert her beliefs, there is specifically the "eye for an eye" proverb in the Book of Leviticus.
"There's a lot of killing in the Bible," she added. "If they want to get [beliefs of redemption] in there, then maybe they should go back and read their Bible."
Lawmakers are asking for people to have compassion but Whitelock said this doesn't feel compassionate to victims and their loved ones.
"I'm not sure when the law stopped protecting victims and started protecting murderers," she said.
Members of House leadership have already responded, saying that they will fight to keep the death penalty as an option.
"Abolishment, it's never going to happen," Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) said. "There has got to be a consequence to people's actions."
He plans to support a reintroduction of legislation to use nitrogen gas for the death penalty.
"There are crimes that are so heinous, that are so against basic humanity, that they deserve the ultimate punishment," Attorney General Dave Yost said in Jan.
RELATED: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost promotes bill to start using nitrogen gas for executions
House Speaker Matt Huffman stands on the opposite side of the spectrum from his cousin Steve Huffman. Although he avoided reporters Tuesday, he has always supported capital punishment.
"That's a long question, I wasn't prepared to do this," Huffman said after being asked about the bill. "I got a bunch of other stuff I got to do."
The governor's team had no immediate comment since he hasn't seen the bill yet.
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