List of people executed in the United States in 1957

Sixty-nine people, sixty-eight male and one female, were executed in the United States in 1957, forty-eight by electrocution, sixteen by gas chamber, and five by hanging. ^[1]

The District of Columbia would conduct its final execution this year, before abolishing capital punishment in 1981. ^[2]

List of people executed in the United States in 1957

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 3, 1957	John Edward McHenry	26	25	1	Male	Black	Texas	Electrocution	[3]
2	January 4, 1957	Amos Reece	31	28	3			Georgia		[4]
3		Leslie Webb	22	19				Texas		[5]
4	January 11, 1957	John Gilbert Graham	24	23	1		White	Colorado	Gas chamber	[6]
5		Otto Austin Loel	46	43	3			Oklahoma	Electrocution	[1]
6	January 21, 1957	Joseph Lester Ezzell	42	40	2			Florida		[7]
7	February 5, 1957	Robert Hendricks	66	64				Oklahoma		[8]
8	February 8, 1957	John Allen	36	28	8			California	Gas chamber	[9]
9		Louis Franklin Smith	38	30
10		John Felix Corbin	32	29	3			Georgia	Electrocution	[10]
11		Minor M. Sorber	39	35	4			Mississippi	Gas chamber	[11]
12	February 14, 1957	Thomas J. Edwards	23	20	3		Black	U.S. military	Hanging	[1]
13		Winfred D. Moore		19	4
14	February 28, 1957	Leonardo Salemi	44	39	5		White	New York	Electrocution	[12]
15	March 5, 1957	Jennings Edward Fields	33	30	3			Georgia		[13]
16	March 8, 1957	John Newberry	47	Unknown	Unknown					[1]
17	March 14, 1957	MacDonald F. Browne	31	29	2			New York
18	March 15, 1957	Burton Wilbur Abbott	29	27				California	Gas chamber	[14]
19		Leon I. Domingo	23	20	3		Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[15]
20		Isiah Styles	34	33	1					[16]
21		Jimmy Allen	36	34	2			Tennessee		[1]
22	March 19, 1957	Don Mitchell Colman	18	17	1			Georgia		[17]
23		Robert Lee Elder	37	Unknown	Unknown					[1]
24		James Toler	39	38	1					[17]
25	March 22, 1957	Clarence Johnson	56	54	2			Alabama		[18]
26	March 25, 1957	Harold Ellison Hill	25	22	3		White	Georgia		[19]
27	April 3, 1957	Ernest L. Ransom	26		4		Black	U.S. military	Hanging	[1]
28	April 4, 1957	Merle Wayne Ellisor	34	32	2		White	Texas	Electrocution	[20]
29	April 24, 1957	Yancy Albert McGowen	64	61	3					[21]
30	April 26, 1957	Robert Eugene Carter	28	24	4		Black	District of Columbia		[22]
31	May 6, 1957	Billy Thomas Gibbs	25	23	2		White	Tennessee		[23]
32	May 22, 1957	Leonard John Coey Sr.	58	56				Arizona	Gas chamber	[24]
33	May 31, 1957	John Joseph Michel	23	19	4		Black	Louisiana	Electrocution	[25]
34	June 4, 1957	John Lewis Gregory Jr.		Unknown	Unknown			Virginia		[1]
35	June 7, 1957	Willie Marion Daniels	20	19	1			South Carolina		[26]
36	June 21, 1957	James Bush	27	24	3			Louisiana		[27]
37		Joseph Washington	34	31
38	June 24, 1957	Harold Edward Shackleford	33	Unknown	Unknown			Ohio		[1]
39	June 28, 1957	Thomas Lynn Johnston	25	24	1		White	California	Gas chamber	[28]
40		Eddie Lee Daniels	29	28			Black	Maryland		[29]
41	July 5, 1957	Louis Chinn	31		3			Louisiana	Electrocution	[30]
42		James Eugene Smith	35	31	4			South Carolina		[31]
43	July 12, 1957	Lloyd Junius Dobie	26	24	2			Virginia		[32]
44	July 15, 1957	William Owens Raulerson	49	47			White	Florida		[1]
45	July 19, 1957	John Edward Cheary	25	24	1			California	Gas chamber	[33]
46	July 26, 1957	Grady Justice	29	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Georgia	Electrocution
47	August 15, 1957	Miguel Santiago		28	1		Hispanic	New York		[1]
48	August 16, 1957	David Joel Hardenbrook	22	20	2		White	California	Gas chamber	[34]
49		Joseph Oscar Sheffield	28	24	4			Louisiana	Electrocution	[35]
50	August 21, 1957	George Krull	36	34	2			Federal government		[36]
51		Michael Krull	32	30
52		Wilburn Monroe Hall	29	28	1			Texas		[37]
53	September 6, 1957	Fred Gordon Mullins	41	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Georgia		[38]
54		Donald Rufus Edwards	22	21	1			Louisiana		[39]
55	September 13, 1957	Thomas Ervin Moore	42	40	2		White	Missouri	Gas chamber	[40]
56	September 14, 1957	John Wright	38	37	1		Black	Texas	Electrocution	[1]
57	September 16, 1957	Lem Dupree	59	58				Georgia		[41]
58	September 30, 1957	Roosevelt Rhone	33	31	2			Florida		[42]
59	October 2, 1957	Foster Seth Dement	50	49	1		White	California	Gas chamber	[43]
60	October 4, 1957	Henry C. Simpson	62	58	4					[44]
61		John Henry White	26	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
62	October 11, 1957	Rhonda Belle Martin	50	44	6	Female	White	Alabama		[45]
63		D.C. Bailey	23	21	2	Male	Black	Louisiana		[46]
64	October 18, 1957	Raymond Allen Snowden	35	34	1		White	Idaho	Hanging	[47]
65	November 11, 1957	Donald Keith Bashor	38	35	3			California	Gas chamber	[48]
66	November 14, 1957	Joe Louis Thompson	21	20	1		Black	Mississippi		[49]
67	November 21, 1957	David Taylor	44	42	2			New York	Electrocution	[1]
68	November 22, 1957	Ross McAfee	39	38	1			North Carolina	Gas chamber	[50]
69	December 3, 1957	Harvey John Collins	32	29	3		White	Washington	Hanging	[51]

Demographics

Gender
Male	68	99%
Female	1	1%
Ethnicity
Black	35	51%
White	33	48%
Hispanic	1	1%
State
Georgia	14	20%
California	9	13%
Louisiana	7	10%
Texas	6	9%
New York	4	6%
Florida	3	4%
U.S. military	3	4%
Alabama	2	3%
Federal government	2	3%
Mississippi	2	3%
Oklahoma	2	3%
South Carolina	2	3%
Tennessee	2	3%
Virginia	2	3%
Arizona	1	1%
Colorado	1	1%
District of Columbia	1	1%
Idaho	1	1%
Maryland	1	1%
Missouri	1	1%
North Carolina	1	1%
Ohio	1	1%
Washington	1	1%
Method
Electrocution	48	70%
Gas chamber	16	23%
Hanging	5	7%
Month
January	6	9%
February	8	12%
March	12	17%
April	4	6%
May	3	4%
June	7	10%
July	6	9%
August	6	9%
September	6	9%
October	6	9%
November	4	6%
December	1	1%
Age
10–19	1	1%
20–29	28	41%
30–39	24	35%
40–49	8	12%
50–59	5	7%
60–69	3	4%
Total	69	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1958	50
1957	69
1956	65
Total	184

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 18, 2025.
2. "District of Columbia". Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 22, 2025.
3. "McHenry v. State". Justia Law.
4. "A Brutal Crime and a Case for Change". Patch. May 8, 2011. p. 5.
5. "Documentation for the execution of Leslie Webb". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
6. "Graham v. People". Justia Law.
7. "N.C. Man Executed In Florida". The Charlotte Observer via newspapers.com. January 22, 1957. p. 1.
8. "Hendricks v. State". Justia Law.
9. "Perjury Check Slated For Doomed Pair". Daily Independent Journal via newspapers.com. October 1, 1955. p. 1.
10. "Corbin v. State". Justia Law.
11. "Minor Sorber Pays In Gas Chamber For Role In Murder Of Local Man". Enterprise-Journal via newspapers.com. February 8, 1957. p. 1.
12. "United States Ex Rel. Leonardo Salemi, Petitioner-appellant, v. Wilfred L. Denno, Warden of Sing Sing Prison, Respondent-appellee, 235 F.2d 910 (2d Cir. 1956)". Justia Law.
13. "Fields v. State". vLex.
14. "Stay Of Execution Two Minutes Late". The Tuscaloosa News. March 16, 1957. p. 1.
15. "Domingo v. State". Justia Law.
16. "Styles v. State". Descrybe.ai.
17. "Toler v. State". vLex.
18. "Johnson v. State". Justia Law.
19. "Hill v. State". Justia Law.
20. "Ellisor v. State". Justia Law.
21. "McGowen v. State". Justia Law.
22. "Robert E. Carter, Appellant, v. United States of America, Appellee, 223 F.2d 332 (D.C. Cir. 1955)". Justia Law.
23. "Scant Hope Held For Billy Gibbs". The Tennessean via newspapers.com. May 6, 1957. p. 3.
24. "State v. Coey". Justia Law.
25. "Michel v. Louisiana, 350 U.S. 91 (1955)". Justia Law.
26. "State v. Daniels". Justia Law.
27. "State v. Washington". vLex.
28. "People v. Johnston". FindLaw.
29. "Daniels v. State". vLex.
30. "Chinn Executed for '54 Murder Of BR Peddler". West Side Journal via newspapers.com. July 12, 1957. p. 1.
31. "State v. Smith". Justia Law.
32. "Dobie v. Commonwealth". Justia Law.
33. "People v. Cheary". Stanford Law School.
34. "People v. Hardenbrook". vLex.
35. "State v. Sheffield". vLex.
36. "George Krull and Michael Krull, Appellants, v. United States of America, Appellee, 240 F.2d 122 (5th Cir. 1957)". Justia Law.
37. "Hall v. State". Justia Law.
38. "Mullins v. State". Justia Law.
39. "Summary of the execution of Donald Edwards". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
40. "State v. Moore". Justia Law.
41. "Dupree v. State". Justia Law.
42. "Rhone v. State". vLex.
43. "People v. Dement". Justia Law.
44. "People v. Simpson". vLex.
45. "Martin v. State". vLex.
46. "State v. Bailey". Justia Law.
47. "Snowden Dies On Gallows For Murder". The Idaho Statesman via newspapers.com. October 18, 1957. p. 13.
48. "People v. Bashor". Stanford Law School.
49. "Thompson v. State". Justia Law.
50. "Negro Executed For Attempted Assault, Burglary". The News-Star via newspapers.com. November 22, 1957. p. 13.
51. "State v. Collins". Justia Law.

Preceded by 1956

List of people executed       in the United States in    1957

Succeeded by 1958