The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Alabama since capital punishment was resumed in the United States in 1976. All of the 73 people (72 men and 1 woman) have been executed at the Holman Correctional Facility, near Atmore, Alabama. All executions between December 2002 and 2023 were conducted by lethal injection. In January 2024, the Alabama Department of Corrections conducted the first ever execution via nitrogen hypoxia. [1]
Prior to 1983, an 18-year moratorium on executions was observed under the direction of the Supreme Court of the United States. Alabama previously executed 153 people between 1927 and 1965. [2]
No. | Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Louis Evans III | White | 33 | M | April 22, 1983 | Mobile | Electrocution | Edward Nassar | George Wallace |
2 | Arthur Lee Jones [3] | Black | 47 | M | March 21, 1986 | William Hosea Waymon | |||
3 | Wayne Eugene Ritter [lower-alpha 1] [4] | White | 33 | M | August 28, 1987 | Edward Nassar | H. Guy Hunt | ||
4 | Michael Lindsey [5] | Black | 28 | M | May 26, 1989 | Rosemary Zimlich Rutland | |||
5 | Horace Franklin Dunkins Jr. [6] | Black | 28 | M | July 14, 1989 | Jefferson | Lynn McCurry | ||
6 | Herbert Lee Richardson | Black | 43 | M | August 18, 1989 | Houston | Rena Mae Callins | ||
7 | Arthur James Julius [7] | Black | 43 | M | November 17, 1989 | Montgomery | Susie Bell Sanders | ||
8 | Wallace Norrell Thomas [8] | Black | 35 | M | July 13, 1990 | Mobile | Quenette Shehane | ||
9 | Larry Gene Heath [9] | White | 40 | M | March 20, 1992 | Russell | Rebecca Heath | ||
10 | Cornelius Singleton [10] | Black | 36 | M | November 20, 1992 | Mobile | Ann Hogan | ||
11 | Willie Clisby Jr. | Black | 47 | M | April 28, 1995 | Jefferson | Fletcher Handley | Fob James | |
12 | Varnell Weeks | Black | 43 | M | May 12, 1995 | Macon | Mark Batts | ||
13 | Edward Dean Horsley Jr. [lower-alpha 2] | Black | 38 | M | February 16, 1996 | Monroe | Naomi Rolon | ||
14 | Billy Wayne Waldrop | White | 44 | M | January 10, 1997 | Talladega | Thurman Macon Donahoo | ||
15 | Walter Hill | Black | 62 | M | May 2, 1997 | Jefferson | Willie Mae Hammock, John Tatum Jr., and Lois Jean Tatum | ||
16 | Henry Francis Hays [11] | White | 42 | M | June 6, 1997 | Mobile | Michael Donald | ||
17 | Steven Allen Thompson | White | 34 | M | May 8, 1998 | Madison | Robin Balarzs | ||
18 | Brian Keith Baldwin | Black | 40 | M | June 18, 1999 | Monroe | Naomi Rolon | Don Siegelman | |
19 | Victor Kennedy | Black | 37 | M | August 6, 1999 | Shelby | Annie Laura Orr | ||
20 | David Ray Duren | White | 37 | M | January 7, 2000 | Jefferson | Kathleen Bedsole | ||
21 | Freddie Lee Wright | Black | 48 | M | March 3, 2000 | Mobile | Warren Green and Lois Green | ||
22 | Robert Lee Tarver Jr. | Black | 52 | M | April 14, 2000 | Russell | Hugh Sims Kite | ||
23 | Pernell La'sha Ford | Black | 35 | M | June 2, 2000 | Calhoun | Willie C. Griffith and Linda Gail Griffith | ||
24 | Lynda Lyon Block | White | 54 | F | May 10, 2002 | Lee | Opelika police Sergeant Roger Lamar Motley | ||
25 | Anthony Keith Johnson | White | 46 | M | December 12, 2002 | Morgan | Lethal injection | Kenneth Cantrell | |
26 | Michael Eugene Thompson | White | 43 | M | March 13, 2003 | Blount | Maisie Carlene Gray | Bob Riley | |
27 | Gary Leon Brown | White | 44 | M | April 24, 2003 | Jefferson | Jack David McGraw | ||
28 | Thomas Jerry Fortenberry | White | 39 | M | August 7, 2003 | Etowah | 4 murder victims [lower-alpha 3] | ||
29 | James Barney Hubbard | White | 74 | M | August 5, 2004 | Tuscaloosa | Lillian Montgomery | ||
30 | David Kevin Hocker | White | 33 | M | September 30, 2004 | Henry | Jerry Wayne Robinson | ||
31 | Mario Giovanni Centobie | White | 39 | M | April 28, 2005 | St. Clair | Moody police officer Keith Turner | ||
32 | Jerry Paul Henderson | White | 58 | M | June 2, 2005 | Talladega | Jerry Haney | ||
33 | George Everette Sibley Jr. [lower-alpha 4] | White | 62 | M | August 4, 2005 | Lee | Opelika police Sergeant Roger Lamar Motley | ||
34 | John W. Peoples Jr. | White | 48 | M | September 22, 2005 | Talladega | Paul Franklin, Judy Franklin, and Paul Franklin Jr. | ||
35 | Larry Eugene A. Hutcherson | White | 37 | M | October 26, 2006 | Mobile | Irma Thelma Gray | ||
36 | Aaron Lee Jones | Black | 55 | M | May 3, 2007 | Blount | Carl Nelson and Willene Nelson | ||
37 | Darrell B. Grayson | Black | 46 | M | July 26, 2007 | Shelby | Annie Laura Orr | ||
38 | Luther Jerome Williams | Black | 47 | M | August 23, 2007 | Tuscaloosa | John Kirk | ||
39 | James Harvey Callahan | White | 62 | M | January 15, 2009 | Calhoun | Rebecca Suzanne Howell | ||
40 | Danny Joe Bradley [12] | White | 49 | M | February 12, 2009 | Rhonda Hardin | |||
41 | Jimmy Lee Dill [13] | Black | 49 | M | April 16, 2009 | Jefferson | Leon Shaw | ||
42 | Willie McNair [14] | Black | 44 | M | May 14, 2009 | Montgomery | Ella Foy Riley | ||
43 | Jack Harrison Trawick [2] | White | 62 | M | June 11, 2009 | Jefferson | Stephanie Gach | ||
44 | Max Landon Payne [15] | White | 38 | M | October 8, 2009 | Cullman | Braxton Brown | ||
45 | Thomas Warren Whisenhant | White | 63 | M | May 27, 2010 | Mobile | Sheryl Lynn Payton [lower-alpha 5] | ||
46 | John Forrest Parker [lower-alpha 6] | White | 42 | M | June 10, 2010 | Colbert | Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett | ||
47 | Michael Jeffrey Land | White | 41 | M | August 12, 2010 | Jefferson | Candace Brown | ||
48 | Holly Wood | Black | 50 | M | September 9, 2010 | Dale | Ruby Lois Gosha | ||
49 | Phillip D. Hallford | White | 63 | M | November 4, 2010 | Pike | Charles Eddie Shannon | ||
50 | Leroy B. White | Black | 52 | M | January 13, 2011 | Madison | Ruby White | ||
51 | William Glenn Boyd | White | 45 | M | March 31, 2011 | Calhoun | Fred Blackmon and Evelyn Blackmon | Robert J. Bentley | |
52 | Jason Oric Williams | White | 43 | M | May 19, 2011 | Mobile | 4 murder victims [lower-alpha 7] | ||
53 | Eddie Duval Powell III | Black | 41 | M | June 16, 2011 | Tuscaloosa | Mattie Wesson | ||
54 | Derrick O'Neal Mason | Black | 37 | M | September 22, 2011 | Madison | Angela Cagle | ||
55 | Christopher Thomas Johnson | White | 38 | M | October 20, 2011 | Escambia | Elias Ocean Johnson | ||
56 | Andrew Reid Lackey | White | 29 | M | July 25, 2013 | Limestone | Charlie Newman | ||
57 | Christopher Eugene Brooks | White | 43 | M | January 21, 2016 | Jefferson | Jo Deann Campbell | ||
58 | Ronald Bert Smith Jr. | White | 45 | M | December 8, 2016 | Madison | Casey Wilson | ||
59 | Thomas Douglas Arthur | White | 75 | M | May 26, 2017 | Colbert | Troy Wicker | Kay Ivey | |
60 | Robert Bryant Melson | Black | 46 | M | June 8, 2017 | Etowah | James Nathaniel Baker, Darryl Collier, and Tamika Collins | ||
61 | Torrey Twane McNabb | Black | 40 | M | October 19, 2017 | Montgomery | Montgomery police officer Anderson Gordon | ||
62 | Michael Wayne Eggers | White | 50 | M | March 15, 2018 | Walker | Bennie Francis Murray | ||
63 | Walter Leroy Moody Jr. | White | 83 | M | April 19, 2018 | Jefferson | Robert Smith Vance [lower-alpha 8] | ||
64 | Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray | Black | 42 | M | February 7, 2019 | Dallas | Tiffany Harville | ||
65 | Michael Brandon Samra | White | 41 | M | May 16, 2019 | Shelby | 4 murder victims [lower-alpha 9] | ||
66 | Christopher Lee Price | White | 46 | M | May 30, 2019 | Fayette | Pastor Bill Lynn | ||
67 | Nathaniel Woods | Black | 43 | M | March 5, 2020 | Jefferson | Carlos Owen, Harley Chisholm III, and Charles Bennett [lower-alpha 10] | ||
68 | Willie B. Smith III | Black | 52 | M | October 21, 2021 | Sharma Ruth Johnson | |||
69 | Matthew Reeves | Black | 44 | M | January 27, 2022 | Dallas | Willie Johnson Jr. | ||
70 | Joe Nathan James Jr. | Black | 50 | M | July 28, 2022 | Jefferson | Faith Hall | ||
71 | James Edward Barber | White | 64 | M | July 21, 2023 | Madison | Dorothy Belle Epps | ||
72 | Casey Allen McWhorter | White | 49 | M | November 16, 2023 | Marshall | Edward Lee Williams Sr. | ||
73 | Kenneth Eugene Smith [lower-alpha 11] | White | 58 | M | January 25, 2024 | Colbert | Nitrogen hypoxia | Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett |
Race | ||
---|---|---|
White | 41 | 56% |
Black | 32 | 44% |
Age | ||
20–29 | 3 | 4% |
30–39 | 16 | 22% |
40–49 | 34 | 47% |
50–59 | 10 | 14% |
60–69 | 7 | 10% |
70–79 | 2 | 3% |
80–89 | 1 | 1% |
Sex | ||
Male | 72 | 99% |
Female | 1 | 1% |
Date of execution | ||
1976–1979 | 0 | 0% |
1980–1989 | 7 | 10% |
1990–1999 | 12 | 16% |
2000–2009 | 25 | 34% |
2010–2019 | 22 | 30% |
2020–2029 | 7 | 10% |
Method | ||
Lethal injection | 48 | 66% |
Electrocution | 24 | 33% |
Nitrogen hypoxia | 1 | 1% |
Governor (Party) | ||
George Wallace (D) | 2 | 3% |
H. Guy Hunt (R) | 8 | 11% |
Jim Folsom Jr. (D) | 0 | 0% |
Fob James (R) | 7 | 10% |
Don Siegelman (D) | 8 | 11% |
Bob Riley (R) | 25 | 34% |
Robert J. Bentley (R) | 8 | 11% |
Kay Ivey (R) | 15 | 21% |
Total | 73 | 100% |
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 states have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums.
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William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21, 9 miles (14 km) north of Atmore in southern Alabama.
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Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution, even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. In the United States, after an individual is found guilty of a capital offense in states where execution is a legal penalty, the judge will give the jury the option of imposing a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. It is then up to the jury to decide whether to give the death sentence; this usually has to be a unanimous decision. If the jury agrees on death, the defendant will remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures, which may continue for several decades.
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The execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith took place in the U.S. state of Alabama by means of nitrogen hypoxia. It was the first execution in the world to use this particular method.