“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Mt12:7 The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date of June11th, 2024, for David Hosier. David was sentenced to death for the 2009 murder of Angela Gilpin in Jefferson City. This is Missouri’s second execution of 2024.
The Church teaches: Human Dignity “is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes.” As such, the death penalty is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.” (Catholic Catechism 2267) David and his family never received support they needed after his father, an Indiana State Police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1971. As a teen, David did not recover from the trauma. He suffered from severe depression with psychosis, exacerbated by a stroke. He currently suffers from heart failure.
David’s case highlights many of the flaws inherent in the death penalty system:
1.Conviction on circumstantial evidence and unreliable forensic evidence resulting in a fundamentally unfair trial. 2. The death penalty is mostly imposed on poor people who can’t afford an effective lawyer. 3.Vulnerable people with intellectual disability and severe mental Illness are those most affected by the death penalty. What can we do?E-mail Governor Parson in support of clemency for David, or sign a petition at www.madpmo.org (Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty)
On June 11th, join the Peace and Justice Ministry in prayer of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Caton Chapel, 5:30 PM. Submitted by Susan Buerkle 314-707-3227