Gov. Ted Strickland honored the wishes of family members of the slain Cincinnati woman by concurring with the Ohio Parole Board and sparing the life of her son, condemned killer Jeffrey D. Hill of Hamilton County.

Hill, 44, was to be executed March 3 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville for murdering his 62-year-old mother.

Hill stabbed her to death on March 23, 1991, while he was in a crack cocaine-induced rage. He said he does not remember what happened that night.

Hill was "very happy" when he was told that the governor had granted clemency, prisons spokeswoman Andrea Carson said.

Strickland reduced Hill's sentence to 25 years to life, meaning that he could be released in about seven years because he has been incarcerated for 18 years.

Eddie Sanders, Hill's uncle and the brother of the slain Emma Hill, issued a statement saying that he and the family were "absolutely elated" by Strickland's decision.

"Our family's prayers have finally been answered," Sanders said. "The governor's actions today not only respect our wishes, but they also honor the memory of my beloved sister who believed in the power of redemption and the value of all life."

Strickland said he reviewed the entire case file, including trial records.

"I concur with the rationale and recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board and have, therefore, decided to commute Mr. Hill's sentence to a term of from 25 years to life," Strickland said in a statement. He did not elaborate on his decision.

The parole board had been impressed by what it called the "compelling and unanimous opinion" of the victim's family that her son and killer should not be put to death. The board said that Hill's crime was not the "worst of the worse."

In making its clemency recommendation to Strickland last week, the board said of the family: "They have suffered tremendous loss, and execution would add further to their suffering."

This is the second time that Strickland, a Democrat, has spared the life of a condemned man. He previously reduced the death sentence of John G. Spirko Jr. to life in prison.

Former Gov. Bob Taft used his executive clemency power in 2005 to spare the life of Jerome Campbell, also of Cincinnati.

Ohio has had 28 executions since resuming capital punishment in 1999.

ajohnson@dispatch.com