The state Senate worked into the morning, but has passed a bill that would repeal the state's death penalty. The vote, that came shortly after 2 a.m. was 20-16 in favor of repeal.
The measure would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Democratic lawmakers announced a last-minute amendment to the bill, which would provide tougher prison conditions for inmates sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Those prisoners would be kept from the general prison population, be housed in a maximum security facility and would spend 22 hours a day in their cells. These are the conditions now placed upon death row inmates.
The proposed bill would abolish the death penalty for all future cases but would not directly affect the sentences of 11 current death row inmates, including the two men convicted of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion murders.
The sole survivor of the attacks, Dr. William Petit, was at the state Capitol on Wednesday to urge lawmakers not to repeal the death penalty. He said he believes lawyers for the 11 men on death row would use the repeal as grounds for appeal.
The legislation now goes to the state House of Representatives.
Gov. Dannel Malloy has said he will support the prospective bill.
Thirty four states have the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
