American Bar Association calls on Parson to stop June 6 execution

A prominent group is asking the governor to halt an upcoming execution. 

The American Bar Association is calling on Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to stop the execution of Michael Tisius, a man scheduled to be put to death on June 6. 

Tisius, 42, was convicted in the killings of two Randolph County jail workers in a plot to break out an inmate in 2000. 

At the time of the crime, he was 19 years old. 

According to the Kansas City Star, the A-B-A passed a resolution urging states with capital punishment to prohibit the execution of anyone 21 years old or younger when the crime was committed, citing research showing the brain is not fully developed until an individual’s mid-twenties, which results in an underdeveloped sense of responsibility. 

In a Missouri case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, youth under 18 cannot be given the death penalty. 

The letter was dated Monday, May 22.