By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MILFORD - Three years ago today, Angela Wilson's 15-year-old son, Christopher Alford, was brutally attacked inside his grandparents' Milford home, which was then set on fire to cover up the killing.

In the months that followed, Wilson went door-to-door with petitions urging legislators to increase sentencing options for those who plead guilty to aggravated murder.

Wilson's crusade may finally be paying off. At 1 p.m. today, the Chris Alford Bill is scheduled for a vote in the Ohio House.

The proposal adds life in prison without parole as a penalty for pleading guilty to aggravated murder. Currently, if a defendant is convicted of aggravated murder and meets certain specifications, the penalty can either be death or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. A defendant can be sentenced to life in prison as an alternative to the death sentence only by pleading guilty before a three-judge panel.

Alford's killer, Randy Mills, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in the death of the teen. He could have received the death penalty, but Wilson didn't want her son's killer to die.

With Wilson's consent, Mills was sentenced in a plea agreement to spend the next 50 years behind bars.

"It was really hard," Wilson said Wednesday. "I really don't believe in the death penalty." ."

Clermont County Prosecutor Don White, along with Assistant Prosecutor Woody Breyer, helped convince legislators the addition is necessary.

"A family is never allowed the time to heal (in a death penalty case). It just keeps coming up," White said. "This way, we have this option and it can happen right away."

Sponsored by state Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Miami Township, the bill is expected to pass the House and will then head to the Senate for consideration.

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com