ANGOLA - An 81-year-old death row inmate died in the Louisiana State Penitentiary overnight after spending more than 30 years on death row.

Christopher Sepulvado's execution was scheduled for March 17, 2025, as Louisiana legislators are pushing to reopen the state's execution chamber. He died Feb. 23.

Sepulvado and inmate Jessie Hoffman were scheduled to die by nitrogen gas. Nearly two weeks before his death, Sepulvado's attorney Shawn Nolan had said Sapulvado "is a debilitated old man suffering from serious medical ailments." 

Nolan shared the following statement:

“Christopher Sepulvado’s death overnight in the prison infirmary is a sad comment on the state of the death penalty in Louisiana. The idea that the State was planning to strap this tiny, frail, dying old man to a chair and force him to breathe toxic gas into his failing lungs is simply barbaric. Such pointless cruelty in scheduling his execution in the face of all this overlooked the hard work Chris did over his decades in prison to confront the harm he had caused, to become a better person, and to devote himself to serving God and helping others. It was my honor to fight for Chris, a man who redeemed himself. May he rest in peace.”

In 1992, Sepulvado was convicted of killing his stepson, 6-year-old Wesley Allen Mercer, the weekend after marrying the boy's mother.