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List of people executed in the United States in 2020

Seventeen people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2020, sixteen by lethal injection and one by electrocution.[1] The federal government of the United States executed ten people in 2020, ending a hiatus on federal executions which had lasted for over 17 years. State executions dropped significantly in 2020 compared to previous years, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[2]

List of people executed in the United States in 2020

[edit]
No. Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method Ref.
At execution At offense Age difference
1 January 15, 2020 John Steven Gardner 64 49 15 Male White Texas Lethal injection [3]
2 January 29, 2020 Donnie Cleveland Lance 66 43 23 Georgia [4]
3 February 6, 2020 Abel Revill Ochoa 47 29 18 Hispanic Texas [5]
4 February 20, 2020 Nicholas Todd Sutton 58 23 35 White Tennessee Electrocution [6]
5 March 5, 2020 Nathaniel Woods 43 27 16 Black Alabama Lethal injection [7]
6 May 19, 2020 Walter Barton 64 35 29 White Missouri [8][9]
7 July 8, 2020 Billy Joe Wardlow 45 18 27 Texas [10]
8 July 14, 2020 Daniel Lewis Lee 47 22 25 Federal government [11]
9 July 16, 2020 Wesley Ira Purkey 68 46 22 [12][13]
10 July 17, 2020 Dustin Lee Honken 52 25 27 [14]
11 August 26, 2020 Lezmond Charles Mitchell 38 20 18 Native American [15]
12 August 28, 2020 Keith Dwayne Nelson 45 24 21 White [16]
13 September 22, 2020 William Emmett LeCroy Jr. 50 31 19 [17]
14 September 24, 2020 Christopher Andre Vialva 40 19 21 Black [18]
15 November 19, 2020 Orlando Cordia Hall 49 23 26 [19][20]
16 December 10, 2020 Brandon Anthony Micah Bernard 40 18 22 [21]
17 December 11, 2020 Alfred Bourgeois 56 38 18 [22]
Average: 51 years 29 years 22 years

Demographics

[edit]
Gender
Male 17 100%
Female 0 0%
Ethnicity
White 10 59%
Black 5 29%
Hispanic 1 6%
Native American 1 6%
State
Federal government 10 59%
Texas 3 18%
Alabama 1 6%
Georgia 1 6%
Missouri 1 6%
Tennessee 1 6%
Method
Lethal injection 16 94%
Electrocution 1 6%
Month
January 2 12%
February 2 12%
March 1 6%
April 0 0%
May 1 6%
June 0 0%
July 4 24%
August 2 12%
September 2 12%
October 0 0%
November 1 6%
December 2 12%
Age
30–39 1 6%
40–49 8 47%
50–59 4 24%
60–69 4 24%
Total 17 100%

Executions in recent years

[edit]
Number of executions
2021 11
2020 17
2019 22
Total 50
[edit]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of executions that had been planned for 2020 were postponed and/or rescheduled. Texas postponed the executions of seven inmates who were due to be executed between March and September, beginning with Carlos Trevino, whose execution was postponed three times (first on March 11, then June 3, and finally September 30).[23][24][25][26] Tennessee also postponed the executions of four inmates who were due to be executed between June and December.[27][28][29][30] In addition, the December 8 execution of Lisa Montgomery by the federal government was postponed by the DC District Court after both of her defense attorneys caught COVID-19.[31] She was executed the following year, on January 13, 2021.[32]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Execution List 2020". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. ^ Giuliani-Hoffman, Francesca (December 17, 2020). "The US government has executed 10 people this year – the most since 1896". CNN. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ McCullough, Jolie (January 15, 2020). "Texas carries out nation's first execution of 2020 for domestic violence slaying in Collin County". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "Georgia man put to death for the 1997 killings of 2 people". AP NEWS. January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "Texas executes Abel Ochoa, who killed five family members in Dallas shooting". The Texas Tribune. February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  6. ^ "Tennessee execution: Nicholas Todd Sutton executed by electric chair". The Tennessean. February 21, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  7. ^ "Nathaniel Woods executed in Alabama after Supreme Court denies stay". ABC News. March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  8. ^ "Missouri executes man convicted of murder despite calls to examine innocence claim". The Kansas City Star. May 19, 2020. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Smith, Liliana Segura, Jordan (May 14, 2020). "Reopening Missouri Amid the Pandemic Means Executing a Possibly Innocent Man". The Intercept. Retrieved March 30, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Texas executes Billy Wardlow for 1993 murder". UPI. July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Daniel Lewis Lee executed after Supreme Court clears the way for first federal execution in 17 years". CNN. July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Wesley I. Purkey, Plaintiff v. William P. Barr et al., Defendants" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  13. ^ "Wesley Ira Purkey executed in Terre Haute, 2nd man put to death this week". Indy Star. July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  14. ^ "Dustin Lee Honken: US government executes 3rd federal inmate this week". CNN. July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  15. ^ "Lezmond Mitchell executed inside federal prison in Terre Haute". azcentral. August 26, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  16. ^ "U.S. executes Keith Dwayne Nelson for 1999 rape, murder of Kansas girl". UPI. August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  17. ^ "US government executes killer obsessed with witchcraft". The AP. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  18. ^ "US executes first Black federal inmate in more than 17 years". CBS News. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  19. ^ "Inmate Information – Orlando Cordia Hall", Texas Department of Criminal Justice
  20. ^ "U.S. carries out 8th federal execution of 2020". UPI. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  21. ^ "Brandon Bernard executed in Trump's final days". BBC News. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  22. ^ "Alfred Bourgeois executed: Child killer second to have lethal injection in two days". The Mirror. December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  23. ^ "Fourth Texas Execution Postponed Because Of Coronavirus". WOAI (AM). April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  24. ^ "Fifth Texas Execution Delayed in Midst of Virus Outbreak". KXAS-TV. April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  25. ^ "Execution Delayed for Man Condemned in TCU Professor's Death". KXAS-TV. April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  26. ^ "Texas Delays 7th Execution After Attorneys Raise Concerns Over Coronavirus Pandemic". CBS DFW. August 17, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  27. ^ "Tennessee supreme court stays execution of death row inmate due to covid-19 pandemic". Newsweek. April 19, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  28. ^ "Second Tennessee execution stayed over coronavirus concerns; Byron Black's date set for April 2021". The Tennessean. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  29. ^ "Harold Nichols: Governor delays August execution over coronavirus concerns". The Tennessean. July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  30. ^ "Governor grants 'temporary reprieve from execution' for Pervis Payne". WSMV-TV. November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "First federal execution of a woman in decades halted after lawyers diagnosed with Covid". NBC News. November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  32. ^ "US carries out its 1st execution of female inmate since 1953". Associated Press. January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
Preceded by
2019 		   List of people executed   
   in the United States in   
2020 		Succeeded by
2021