A South Dakota House committee has killed a bill that would have ended the death penalty in the state. 

The House Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the 41st day Wednesday — defeated on a 10-to-1 vote. 

District 8 Representative Tim Reisch of Howard introduced the bill — a rare move for a former sheriff. 

Reisch also served as South Dakota Secretary of Corrections.  He was in the execution chamber in 2007 when the state carried out its first lethal injection. 

He told the committee the research is clear:

A Sioux Falls woman told the committee what it felt like to serve as a juror on a capital punishment case roughly 40 years ago. 

Mary Ihli (Eye-lee), a retired emergency room nurse, described asking God for guidance during deliberations.

Attorney General Marty Jackley led the opposition. 

He said South Dakota’s capital punishment framework is carefully constructed, constitutional and reserved only for the most extreme cases. 

He argued it protects lives.

The committee voted 10-to-1 to kill the bill. 

Only Reisch — the bill’s own sponsor — voted no. 

South Dakota currently has one inmate on death row. 

A pending case involving the alleged killing of Deputy Ken Prorok is set for jury trial in September.