Death warrant sought for Kell

Prosecutors in central Utah have filed court papers seeking to have a death row inmate's stay of execution lifted.

In a motion filed last week in 6th District Court in Manti, Sanpete County Attorney Ross Blackham seeks a death warrant for Troy Michael Kell.

"Kell has no pending action challenging either his conviction or sentence. Therefore, no legal reason exists to delay issuing an execution warrant," Blackham and assistant Utah Attorney General Thomas Brunker wrote.

The Utah Supreme Court unanimously rejected Kell's latest appeal in September. In 1994, he stabbed fellow inmate Lonnie Blackmon 67 times with a homemade knife. The racially motivated slaying (Kell is white, Blackmon was black) was gruesome — Blackmon was stabbed several times in the eyes. It was caught on security cameras at the Utah State Prison in Gunnison.

Kell was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to die. This latest filing is not expected to end his appeals process. He is entitled to post-conviction relief in the federal court system.

"When a death sentence remains unexecuted, the state may petition the court to bring the defendant before it," Blackham and Brunker wrote. "Once the defendant is brought before the court, it must inquire into the facts and, if there is no legal reason against executing the death sentence, the court must order the Department of Corrections director to ensure that the judgment is executed."

Utah has 10 death row inmates awaiting execution, state Corrections spokeswoman Angie Welling said.

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