In order to qualify McCoy as “death eligible” under Ohio law, prosecutors have to prove he was intent on a killing spree, arguing that it was an act of terrorism or mass murder. That motive will be difficult to prove since McCoy’s believed to be mentally ill. (His family says he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia; authorities suspect he stopped taking his medication.) Trucker Bill Briggs, who was nearly killed by a bullet while driving through Ohio last October, would rather authorities didn’t press for a death penalty. “He should be treated like John Hinckley,” says Briggs, “and spend the rest of his life in a rubber room.”
