Everyone accused of a crime in America deserves due process and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. That is true even for Danny Lee Hill, one of two men convicted in the 1985 horrific assault and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife in Warren.

But 37 years later, Hill’s guilt in the brutal slaying of the Warren boy is not in question.

He and co-defendant Timothy Combs, who died in prison a few years ago, each were convicted, and Hill, legally an adult at the time of the crime, was sentenced to death. He remains alive and well, however, on Ohio’s death row, now decades later. A seemingly never-ending parade of motions continues to stall Hill’s execution.

Each time we think the legal maneuvers are finally about to end, another motion comes to light.

The majority of the challenges have been about Hill’s mental capacity at the time of the crime.

While, years ago, the death sentence had been temporarily overturned, it later was reinstated, and since then, time after time, courts either have ruled that the sentence should be carried out, or have refused to reconsider the case.

Hill last week lost an appeal at the highest judicial level to save his life. Almost immediately, however, his attorneys asked the high court to reconsider. Once again, that request is pending.

In the meantime, however, Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has filed a request with the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date — one that he and the victim’s family, especially Miriam Fife, Raymond’s aging mother, hope finally will be carried out.

No one is certain, however, because the last two Ohio governors have granted so many reprieves on executions, largely due to the lack of a death drug that would not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

In his request, Watkins pointed out that Govs. John Kasich and Mike DeWine issued 45 reprieves since the last Ohio execution was carried out in 2018. Two of those were handed out to Trumbull County murderers Stanley Adams and Sean Carter.

But Watkins is not giving up. He weaved the family’s sad tale into his motion filed last week.

“Even at the age of 82, through all the delays, legal challenges and reviews, Miriam has remained steadfast in seeking justice for her, her husband, her family and more importantly for Raymond,” Watkins writes.

Sadly, the brutal crime was not Hill’s first. He had raped two girls as a juvenile, Miriam recounted last week to our reporter Guy Vogrin. Those crimes had been outlined in the courtroom during the mitigation phase of the trial following Hill’s murder conviction.

“He should have been put away before all this happened,” Miriam said. “Raymond would be alive if that was done.”

While no one ever wants to promote death, an execution in this case would wholly represent justice. After all, there has been no recent debate over Hill’s guilt.

In Miriam Fife’s eyes, Hill committed an act for which he must pay the ultimate price. “Those two evil minds came together that night, and Danny Lee Hill must pay the price,” she told our reporter.

After 37 years, we believe it is time for that to happen.

editorial@vindy.com