Seventy-four people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1997, sixty-eight by lethal injection, and six by electrocution. Maryland carried out its first involuntary execution since the early 1960s. [1] Colorado conducted its last execution that same year before the state officially abolished capital punishment in 2020. [2] Oregon conducted its last execution that same year before the state suspended the use of capital punishment, with then Governor Kate Brown commuting the death sentences of 17 inmates to life without parole and thus emptying the state's death row before the end of her term in 2022. [3]
No. | Date of execution | Name | Age of person | Gender | Ethnicity | State | Method | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At execution | At offense | Age difference | ||||||||
1 | January 8, 1997 | Earl Van Denton | 47 | 28 | 19 | Male | White | Arkansas | Lethal injection | [4] |
2 | Paul Ruiz | 49 | 29 | 20 | Hispanic | [4] | ||||
3 | Kirt Douglas Wainwright | 30 | 22 | 8 | Black | [5] | ||||
4 | January 10, 1997 | Billy Wayne Waldrop | 44 | 30 | 14 | White | Alabama | Electrocution | [6] | |
5 | January 23, 1997 | Randall Greenawalt | 47 | 29 | 18 | Arizona | Lethal injection | [7] | ||
6 | January 29, 1997 | Eric Adam Schneider | 35 | 23 | 12 | Missouri | [8] | |||
7 | February 6, 1997 | Michael Carl George | 39 | 33 | 6 | Virginia | [9] | |||
8 | February 10, 1997 | Richard Lewis Brimage Jr. | 41 | 31 | 10 | Texas | [10] | |||
9 | February 26, 1997 | Coleman Wayne Gray | 38 | 27 | 11 | Black | Virginia | [11] | ||
10 | March 12, 1997 | John Kennedy Barefield | 32 | 22 | 10 | Texas | [12] | |||
11 | March 25, 1997 | Pedro Luis Medina | 39 | 24 | 15 | Hispanic | Florida | Electrocution | [13] | |
12 | April 2, 1997 | David Lee Herman | 32 | 7 | White | Texas | Lethal injection | [14] | ||
13 | April 3, 1997 | David Wayne Spence | 40 | 25 | 15 | [15] | ||||
14 | April 14, 1997 | Billy Joe Woods | 50 | 28 | 22 | [16] | ||||
15 | April 16, 1997 | Kenneth Edward Gentry | 36 | 22 | 14 | [17] | ||||
16 | April 21, 1997 | Benjamin Herbert Boyle | 53 | 42 | 11 | [18] | ||||
17 | April 24, 1997 | John Ashley Brown Jr. | 35 | 23 | 12 | Louisiana | [19] | |||
18 | April 29, 1997 | Ernest Orville Baldree | 55 | 44 | 11 | Texas | [20] | |||
19 | May 2, 1997 | Walter Hill | 62 | 41 | 21 | Black | Alabama | Electrocution | [21] | |
20 | May 6, 1997 | Terry Washington | 33 | 23 | 10 | Texas | Lethal injection | [22] | ||
21 | May 8, 1997 | Scott Dawn Carpenter | 22 | 19 | 3 | White | Oklahoma | [23] | ||
22 | May 13, 1997 | Anthony Ray Westley | 36 | 23 | 13 | Black | Texas | [24] | ||
23 | May 16, 1997 | Harry Charles Moore | 56 | 51 | 5 | White | Oregon | [25] | ||
24 | Clifton Eugene Belyeu | 38 | 27 | 11 | Texas | [26] | ||||
25 | May 19, 1997 | Richard Gerry Drinkard | 39 | 28 | [27] | |||||
26 | May 20, 1997 | Clarence Allen Lackey | 42 | 22 | 20 | [28] | ||||
27 | May 21, 1997 | Bruce Edwin Callins | 37 | 20 | 17 | Black | [29] | |||
28 | May 22, 1997 | Larry Wayne White | 47 | 26 | 21 | White | [30] | |||
29 | May 28, 1997 | Robert Anthony Madden | 33 | 22 | 11 | [31] | ||||
30 | June 2, 1997 | Patrick Fitzgerald Rogers | 21 | 12 | Black | [32] | ||||
31 | June 3, 1997 | Kenneth Bernard Harris | 34 | 23 | 11 | [33] | ||||
32 | June 4, 1997 | Dorsie Lee Johnson Jr. | 30 | 19 | [34] | |||||
33 | Davis Losada | 32 | 13 | Hispanic | [35] | |||||
34 | June 6, 1997 | Henry Francis Hays | 42 | 26 | 16 | White | Alabama | Electrocution | [36] | |
35 | June 11, 1997 | Earl Russell Behringer | 33 | 22 | 11 | Texas | Lethal injection | [37] | ||
36 | June 13, 1997 | Michael Eugene Elkins | 41 | 35 | 6 | South Carolina | [38] | |||
37 | June 16, 1997 | David Wayne Stoker | 38 | 27 | 11 | Texas | [39] | |||
38 | June 17, 1997 | Eddie James Johnson | 44 | 35 | 9 | Black | [40] | |||
39 | June 18, 1997 | Irineo Tristan Montoya | 30 | 18 | 12 | Hispanic | [41] | |||
40 | June 25, 1997 | William Lyle Woratzeck | 51 | 34 | 17 | White | Arizona | [42] | ||
41 | July 1, 1997 | Harold I. McQueen Jr. | 44 | 27 | Kentucky | Electrocution | [43] | |||
42 | July 2, 1997 | Flint Gregory Hunt | 38 | 26 | 12 | Black | Maryland | Lethal injection | [44] | |
43 | July 17, 1997 | Roy Bruce Smith | 50 | 41 | 9 | White | Virginia | [45] | ||
44 | July 23, 1997 | Joseph Roger O'Dell III | 54 | 13 | [46] | |||||
45 | July 29, 1997 | Robert Wallace West Jr. | 35 | 20 | 15 | Native American | Texas | [47] | ||
46 | August 6, 1997 | Ralph Cecil Feltrop | 42 | 32 | 10 | White | Missouri | [48] | ||
47 | Eugene Wallace Perry | 53 | 36 | 17 | Arkansas | [49] | ||||
48 | August 13, 1997 | Donald Edward Reese | 54 | 43 | 11 | Missouri | [50] | |||
49 | August 19, 1997 | Carlton Jerome Pope | 35 | 23 | 12 | Black | Virginia | [51] | ||
50 | August 20, 1997 | Andrew Wessel Six | 32 | 21 | 11 | White | Missouri | [52] | ||
51 | September 9, 1997 | James Carl Lee Davis | 34 | 13 | Black | Texas | [53] | |||
52 | September 17, 1997 | Mario Benjamin Murphy | 25 | 19 | 6 | Hispanic | Virginia | [54] | ||
53 | September 22, 1997 | Jessel Turner | 37 | 25 | 12 | Black | Texas | [55] | ||
54 | September 24, 1997 | Samuel Lee McDonald Jr. | 48 | 32 | 16 | Missouri | [56] | |||
55 | September 25, 1997 | Benjamin C. Stone | 45 | 43 | 2 | White | Texas | [57] | ||
56 | September 30, 1997 | John William Cockrum | 38 | 27 | 11 | [58] | ||||
57 | October 1, 1997 | Dwight Dwayne Adanandus | 41 | 31 | 10 | Black | [59] | |||
58 | October 8, 1997 | Ricky Lee Green | 36 | 24 | 12 | White | [60] | |||
59 | October 13, 1997 | Gary Lee Davis | 53 | 41 | Colorado | [61] | ||||
60 | October 22, 1997 | Alan Jeffrey Bannister | 39 | 24 | 15 | Missouri | [62] | |||
61 | October 28, 1997 | Kenneth Ray Ransom | 34 | 20 | 14 | Black | Texas | [63] | ||
62 | November 4, 1997 | Aua Lauti | 43 | 31 | 12 | Pacific Islander | [64] | |||
63 | November 6, 1997 | Aaron Lee Fuller | 30 | 21 | 9 | White | [65] | |||
64 | November 7, 1997 | Earl Matthews Jr. | 32 | 19 | 13 | Black | South Carolina | [66] | ||
65 | November 13, 1997 | Dawud Majid Mu'Min | 44 | 35 | 9 | Virginia | [67] | |||
66 | November 19, 1997 | Walter Stewart | 41 | 23 | 18 | Illinois | [68] | |||
67 | Durlyn Eddmonds | 45 | 25 | 20 | [69] | |||||
68 | Michael Eugene Sharp | 43 | 28 | 15 | White | Texas | [70] | |||
69 | November 20, 1997 | Gary Burris | 40 | 23 | 17 | Black | Indiana | [71] | ||
70 | November 21, 1997 | Charlie Livingston | 35 | 21 | 14 | Texas | [72] | |||
71 | December 2, 1997 | Robert Edward Williams | 61 | 40 | 21 | Nebraska | Electrocution | [73] | ||
72 | December 9, 1997 | Michael Lee Lockhart | 37 | 27 | 10 | White | Texas | Lethal injection | [74] | |
73 | Michael Charles Satcher | 29 | 21 | 8 | Black | Virginia | [75] | |||
74 | December 11, 1997 | Thomas Howard Beavers Jr. | 26 | 18 | White | [76] | ||||
Average: | 40 years | 28 years | 13 years |
Gender | ||
---|---|---|
Male | 74 | 100% |
Female | 0 | 0% |
Ethnicity | ||
White | 41 | 55% |
Black | 26 | 35% |
Hispanic | 5 | 7% |
Native American | 1 | 1% |
Pacific Islander | 1 | 1% |
State | ||
Texas | 37 | 50% |
Virginia | 9 | 12% |
Missouri | 6 | 8% |
Arkansas | 4 | 5% |
Alabama | 3 | 4% |
Arizona | 2 | 3% |
Illinois | 2 | 3% |
South Carolina | 2 | 3% |
Colorado | 1 | 1% |
Florida | 1 | 1% |
Indiana | 1 | 1% |
Kentucky | 1 | 1% |
Louisiana | 1 | 1% |
Maryland | 1 | 1% |
Nebraska | 1 | 1% |
Oklahoma | 1 | 1% |
Oregon | 1 | 1% |
Method | ||
Lethal injection | 68 | 92% |
Electrocution | 6 | 8% |
Month | ||
January | 6 | 8% |
February | 3 | 4% |
March | 2 | 3% |
April | 7 | 9% |
May | 11 | 15% |
June | 11 | 15% |
July | 5 | 7% |
August | 5 | 7% |
September | 6 | 8% |
October | 5 | 7% |
November | 9 | 12% |
December | 4 | 5% |
Age | ||
20–29 | 4 | 5% |
30–39 | 36 | 49% |
40–49 | 22 | 30% |
50–59 | 10 | 14% |
60–69 | 2 | 3% |
Total | 74 | 100% |
Number of executions | |
---|---|
1998 | 68 |
1997 | 74 |
1996 | 45 |
Total | 187 |
Preceded by 1996 | List of people executed in the United States in 1997 | Succeeded by 1998 |