COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Efforts to abolish capital punishment in Ohio are heating up with a bipartisan bill that has drawn the support of former lawmakers who helped enact the state's death penalty law decades ago.

Ohio Sens. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Stephen Huffman (R-Tipp City) are championing Senate Bill 133, which would ban the death penalty in the state.

Under state law, aggravated murder is the only charge that can warrant the death penalty. Judges can also impose a sentence of life in prison without parole or grant parole eligibility after at least 20 years. The bill maintains the latter sentencing options.

Last week, 27 former lawmakers from the 114th General Assembly – the legislature that passed the state’s current death penalty statute – sent a letter to the Senate Jud

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