COLUMBUS, Ohio — The best friend of murder victims is urging Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to allow for the death penalty as his unofficial moratorium on the lethal injection continues.
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"We have photos and then their ashes — that is what we have to share our Christmas with," Rhonda Whitelock said.
This December, all Whitelock wants is justice for her lifelong best friend, Suzanne Taylor.
"It's hard emotionally on the people that survive knowing that this man is still alive," she said.
Justice for her is 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.
"I'm going to work every day, and I'm paying for Mr. George Brinkman to have medicine to live a nice life — when my friend, my best friend, like my sister — is gone," she continued.
Taylor's daughters, her "nieces," don't get to grow up and be the fashion designer and crime scene investigator they wanted to be. But Brinkman gets to sit in prison and watch television, she said.
We've spoken to Whitelock for years about her pleas to execute Brinkman.
RELATED: With one man’s execution in limbo, victims' families divided about death penalty in Ohio
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.”
On Thursday, he told reporters at a closed breakfast that no other capital punishment would happen while he is in charge.
"We will not as long as I am governor," DeWine said.
Whitelock wrote to DeWine last year, begging him to understand her side.
"Maybe Mr. Governor DeWine should look at the photos of what that maniac did to my friend and her children because he doesn't deserve to live," Whitelock said. "If this happened to his family, I am right here to tell you that he would not want this animal to be living."
But DeWine isn’t alone in his anti-death penalty beliefs.
"I would love to see us stop the use of the death penalty in the state of Ohio," Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said. "If we could get that done in lame duck, that would be great."
Antonio and a growing bipartisan group of lawmakers say that the punishment draws out the legal process for victims' families, causing them to go to court year after year on appeals.
That is one of the reasons why she and state Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) introduced Senate Bill 101, which would abolish the punishment. The bill was heard this week during the lame duck session.
RELATED: Death penalty opponents push for elimination in Ohio
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.
Huffman explained that the 128 people currently on death row add up. The cost to the state is between $128 million to $384 million, according to data from the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
More than just about the cost, the death penalty goes against his principles, he said.
"I think that my underlying doctrine of the Catholic faith is that there should be one being that decides if we live or die, and that's the Lord," he added.
RELATED: The death penalty costs Ohio hundreds of millions of dollars. It hasn’t been used in years
Antonio and other anti-capital punishment advocates bring up the point that the wrong person may be convicted, as there have been 11 death row exonerees in Ohio.
Fifty-six people in Ohio have been executed by the state in the past 40 years, meaning for every five executions that have taken place, one person has been exonerated.
"This margin for error robs innocent people of years of their lives and missed time outside of incarceration," Antonio said in S.B. 101 testimony.
But Whitelock argues that since Brinkman pleaded guilty, there is no doubt. He is set to be executed by lethal injection in Sept. 2026 while DeWine is still in power. But his possible predecessor could change that.
"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
Yost has all but officially announced his run for governor. He has been pushing to speed up the process for years. Earlier in 2024, he promoted new legislation to use nitrogen gas in capital punishment.
In an interview with us this Nov., Yost seemed to suggest that DeWine could be executing if he wanted to.
"The drug manufacturers are basically blackmailing the state and saying 'If you use our drugs for capital punishment, we won't sell you anything for any other reason.' Well, obviously, the state buys a whole lot of medicine for a lot of different things..." Yost said. "I'm thinking that if the governor called their bluff, they would probably still continue to sell the other drugs as well."
Yost will likely face off against Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in the gubernatorial race. Husted's team did not respond to comment on his view of the death penalty.
I asked Yost's campaign team if speeding up executions would be a priority if he was elected governor.
"The capital punishment system in Ohio is broken, and a broken promise of justice," Yost's campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said. "Fixing it—and keeping our promises to victims and jurors—will be a top priority for General Yost."
Whitelock said that she wants politicians who are "tough on crime," and wishes DeWine would have an actual dialogue with her. Still, she was glad to hear Yost's perspective.
"I hope someday that it changes and [Brinkman] does go on death row because I will — I don't care how old I am or where I am — I will drag myself in there to see that," she said, with a dark chuckle.
Senate President Matt Huffman said the legislation likely won't pass this year, but the governor did add he will have more to say about the death penalty in the coming months.
"It is very, very hard every day to get through this, and it never goes away," Whitelock said, tearing up. "Put yourself in our situation; I will never forgive what he did."
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