JIM SALTER, Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The sister of Missouri death row inmate Paul Goodwin is asking Gov. Jay Nixon to commute the sentence to life in prison, calling execution an unjust penalty for a man with the mental capabilities of a child.

Paul Goodwin is scheduled to die by injection at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. He used a hammer to kill a 63-year-old St. Louis County woman in 1998.

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and a clemency petition both claim that Goodwin has an IQ of 73. His sister, Mary Mifflin, says her brother remains child-like, even in prison.

The Missouri Attorney General’s office responded to the high court appeal citing testimony at Goodwin’s trial, where a psychologist testified that Goodwin’s IQ is not low enough to be considered mentally disabled.