Louisiana inmate facing execution passes away just weeks prior to scheduled March date

ANGOLA, La. — An 81-year-old man who had spent over three decades on death row in Louisiana succumbed to natural causes just days before his scheduled execution by nitrogen gas. Christopher Sepulvado passed away at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, as reported by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, which cited complications from his existing health issues as the cause of death.

Sepulvado was convicted in 1993 for the murder of his six-year-old stepson, a tragic case stemming from an incident involving the child returning home with soiled underwear. Allegations stated that Sepulvado tragically beat the boy with a screwdriver and subjected him to scalding water. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to death.

His attorney, federal public defender Shawn Nolan, confirmed on Sunday that medical professionals had recently assessed Sepulvado’s condition as terminal and recommended hospice assistance. Nolan noted that over the past few years, his client had experienced considerable deterioration in both physical and cognitive health.

The sudden death of Sepulvado in the prison infirmary has raised serious concerns about the administration of the death penalty in Louisiana. Nolan described the potential execution of an elderly and frail man in such a harsh manner as “simply barbaric,” reflecting on the broader implications for the state’s capital punishment practices.

Earlier in the week, Sepulvado had been taken to New Orleans for surgery but was brought back to prison shortly before his death. The state was intending to resume executions this month after a 15-year hiatus, attributed to dwindling political support and challenges in acquiring lethal injection drugs. Republican Governor Jeff Landry has advocated for a new execution protocol that involves nitrogen gas, following a legislative move last year to include both electrocution and nitrogen gas as methods of execution.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill commented that justice should have been exacted much earlier, emphasizing that the state had failed to provide it during Sepulvado’s lifetime. His execution was set for March 17, while another inmate, Jessie Hoffman, was scheduled for execution a day later after his own first-degree murder conviction in 1996. Hoffman’s legal challenges against Louisiana’s lethal injection protocol date back to 2012, advocating that such methods constitute cruel and unusual punishment. A federal judge recently reopened this lawsuit after dismissing it in 2022 due to the absence of scheduled executions in the state.

Alabama marked a significant milestone in 2022, performing the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas, and has since executed four individuals utilizing this method.