List of people executed in South Carolina

Last updated February 20, 2024

The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of South Carolina since capital punishment was resumed in the United States in 1976.

List of people executed in South Carolina since 1976

No.	Name	Race	Age	Sex	Date of execution	County	Method	Victim(s)	Governor
1	Joseph Carl Shaw	White	29	M	January 11, 1985	Richland	Electrocution	Tommy Taylor and Carlotta Hartness	Richard Riley
2	James Terry Roach	White	25	M	January 10, 1986	Richland		Tommy Taylor and Carlotta Hartness	Richard Riley
3	Ronald Rusty Woomer	White	35	M	April 27, 1990^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Horry		Della Louis Sellers	Carroll Campbell
4	Donald Henry Gaskins	White	58	M	September 6, 1991^{[lower-alpha 2]}	Richland		Rudolph Tyner^{[lower-alpha 3]}	Carroll Campbell
5	Sylvester Lewis Adams	Black	39	M	August 18, 1995	York	Lethal injection ^{[lower-alpha 4]}	Bryan Chambers	David Beasley
6	Robert South	White	51	M	May 31, 1996	Lexington		Daniel Wayne Cogburn
7	Fred H. Kornahrens III	White	47	M	July 19, 1996	Charleston		Patti Jo Kornahrens, Jason Avant, and Harry Wilkerson
8	Michael Rian Torrence	White	35	M	September 6, 1996	Lexington		Dennis Lollis, Charles Bush, and Cynthia Williams
9	Larry Gene Bell	White	46	M	October 4, 1996	Lexington	Electrocution	Sharon "Shari" Faye Smith and Debra May Helmick
10	Doyle Cecil Lucas	White	41	M	November 15, 1996	York	Lethal injection	Bill Reyfield and Evelyn Reyfield
11	Frank Middleton Jr.	Black	33	M	November 22, 1996	Charleston		Shirley Mae Mack and Janell M. Garner
12	Michael Eugene Elkins	White	41	M	June 13, 1997	Jasper		Patricia Whitt
13	Earl Matthews Jr.	Black	32	M	November 7, 1997	Charleston		Lucia Aimar
14	John David Arnold Jr.	White	43	M	March 6, 1998	Beaufort		Betty Gardner
15	John Herman Plath	White	43	M	July 10, 1998	Beaufort		Betty Gardner
16	Sammy Roberts	White	40	M	September 25, 1998	Berkeley		Bill Spain, Kenneth Krause, and Louis Cakley
17	Larry Gilbert	Black	43	M	December 4, 1998	Lexington		Ralph Stoudemire
18	J.D. Gleaton	Black	53	M	December 4, 1998	Lexington		Ralph Stoudemire
19	Louis Joe Truesdale Jr.	Black	40	M	December 11, 1998	Lancaster		Rebecca Ann Eudy
20	Andrew Lavern Smith^{[lower-alpha 5]}	Black	38	M	December 18, 1998	Anderson		Christy Johnson and Corrie Johnson
21	Ronnie Howard	Black	40	M	January 8, 1999	Greenville		Chinh Thi Nguyen Le
22	Joseph Ernest Atkins	White	51	M	January 22, 1999	Charleston		Karen Patterson and Benjamin F. Atkins	Jim Hodges
23	Leroy Joseph Drayton	Black	44	M	November 12, 1999	Charleston		Rhonda Darlene Smith
24	David Rocheville	White	31	M	December 3, 1999	Spartanburg		Alex Hopps and James Todd Green
25	Kevin Dean Young	Black	32	M	November 3, 2000	Anderson		Dennis Ray Hepler
26	Richard Charles Johnson	White	39	M	May 3, 2002	Jasper		C. Daniel Swanson and Bruce Kenneth Smalls^{[lower-alpha 6]}
27	Anthony Green	Black	37	M	August 23, 2002	Charleston		Susan Babich
28	Michael Joseph Passaro	White	40	M	September 13, 2002	Horry		Maggie Passaro
29	David Clayton Hill	White	39	M	March 19, 2004	Georgetown		Spencer Guerry	Mark Sanford
30	Jerry Bridwell McWee	White	51	M	April 16, 2004	Aiken		John Perry
31	Jason Scott Byram	White	38	M	April 23, 2004	Richland		Julie Johnson
32	James Neil Tucker	White	47	M	May 28, 2004	Calhoun	Electrocution	Rosa Lee Dolly Oakley and Shannon Mellon
33	Richard Longworth	White	36	M	April 15, 2005	Spartanburg	Lethal injection	Alex Hopps and James Todd Green
34	Hastings Arthur Wise	Black	51	M	November 4, 2005	Aiken		4 murder victims^{[lower-alpha 7]}
35	Shawn Paul Humphries	White	33	M	December 2, 2005	Greenville		Dickie Smith
36	William Ernest Downs Jr.	White	39	M	July 14, 2006	Aiken		Keenan O'Mailia
37	Calvin Alphonso Shuler	Black	40	M	June 22, 2007	Dorchester		James Brooks
38	David Mark Hill	White	48	M	June 6, 2008	Aiken		James Riddle, Josie Curry, and Michael Gregory
39	James Earl Reed	Black	49	M	June 20, 2008	Charleston	Electrocution	Barbara Lafayette and Joseph Lafayette
40	Joseph Martin Luther Gardner	Black	38	M	December 5, 2008	Dorchester	Lethal injection	Melissa McLauchlin
41	Luke A. Williams	White	56	M	February 20, 2009	Edgefield		Linda Williams and Shaun Williams
42	Thomas Treshawn Ivey	Black	34	M	May 8, 2009	Orangeburg		Robert Montgomery and Sgt. Tommy Harrison
43	Jeffrey Brian Motts^[2]	White	36	M	May 6, 2011	Greenville		Charles Douglas Martin^{[lower-alpha 8]}	Nikki Haley

Demographics

Race
White	26	60%
Black	16	37%
Native American	1	2%
Age
20–29	2	5%
30–39	18	42%
40–49	16	37%
50–59	7	16%
60–69	0	0%
Sex
Male	43	100%
Date of execution
1976–1979	0	0%
1980–1989	2	5%
1990–1999	22	51%
2000–2009	18	42%
2010–2019	1	2%
2020–2029	0	0%
Method
Lethal injection	36	84%
Electrocution	7	16%
Governor (Party)
James B. Edwards (R)	0	0%
Richard Riley (D)	2	5%
Carroll A. Campbell Jr. (R)	2	5%
David Beasley (R)	17	40%
Jim Hodges (D)	7	16%
Mark Sanford (R)	14	33%
Nikki Haley (R)	1	2%
Henry McMaster (R)	0	0%
Total	43	100%

Notes

↑ This was the last execution to be held at Central Correctional Institute in downtown Columbia. The prison complex, on the banks of the Congaree River, has since closed and been demolished.
↑ This was the first execution conducted at Broad River Correctional Institution, and the last execution in the state when electrocution was mandatory.
↑ Gaskins killed at least 15 people but was only executed for Tyner's murder.
↑ Earlier in the year, the General Assembly changed capital punishment rules to allow inmates a choice between lethal injection or electrocution for means of execution.
↑ Andrew Lavern Smith was the 500th person to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
↑ Smalls was a South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper.
↑ The 4 victims were: Charles Griffeth, David Moore, Leonard Filyaw, and Sheryl Wood.
↑ Motts was previously convicted of murdering Clyde Camby and Etta Osteen.

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References

↑ "Searchable Execution Database". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
↑ Collins, Jeffrey. "Inmate Jeffrey Motts first to die in SC with new combo of drugs". Associated Press. The Post and Courier.

External links

South Carolina Department of Corrections Capital Punishment Web Site

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[2] This was the last execution to be held at Central Correctional Institute in downtown Columbia. The prison complex, on the banks of the Congaree River, has since closed and been demolished.

[3] This was the first execution conducted at Broad River Correctional Institution, and the last execution in the state when electrocution was mandatory.

[4] Gaskins killed at least 15 people but was only executed for Tyner's murder.

[5] Earlier in the year, the General Assembly changed capital punishment rules to allow inmates a choice between lethal injection or electrocution for means of execution.

[6] Andrew Lavern Smith was the 500th person to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

[7] Smalls was a South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper.

[8] The 4 victims were: Charles Griffeth, David Moore, Leonard Filyaw, and Sheryl Wood.

[10] Motts was previously convicted of murdering Clyde Camby and Etta Osteen.

[1] "Searchable Execution Database". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 9, 2020.

[9] Collins, Jeffrey. "Inmate Jeffrey Motts first to die in SC with new combo of drugs". Associated Press. The Post and Courier.

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v t e Capital punishment in the United States
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Other	Death row inmates Death Penalty Information Center Most recent executions by state National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment Women executed since 1976 Women on death row

List of people executed in South Carolina

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