This is a list of people executed in the United States in 2002. Seventy-one people were executed in the United States in 2002. Thirty-three of them were in the state of Texas. Two (Lynda Lyon Block and Aileen Carol Wuornos) were female. One (Lynda Lyon Block) was executed via electrocution. [1] [2]
No. | Date of execution | Name | Age of person | Gender | Ethnicity | State | Method | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At execution | At offense | Age difference | ||||||||
1 | January 9, 2002 | James R. Johnson | 52 | 42 | 10 | Male | White | Missouri | Lethal injection | [3] |
2 | Michael Patrick Moore | 38 | 30 | 8 | Texas | [4] | ||||
3 | January 16, 2002 | Jermarr Carlos Arnold | 43 | 24 | 19 | Black | [5] | |||
4 | January 24, 2002 | Ronald Keith Spivey | 62 | 37 | 25 | White | Georgia | [6] | ||
5 | January 29, 2002 | Stephen Wayne Anderson | 48 | 26 | 22 | California | [7] | |||
6 | John Joseph Romano | 43 | 27 | 16 | Oklahoma | [8] | ||||
7 | January 30, 2002 | Windell Broussard | 41 | 32 | 9 | Black | Texas | [9] | ||
8 | January 31, 2002 | Randall Wayne Hafdahl Sr. | 48 | 16 | White | [10] | ||||
9 | David Wayne Woodruff | 42 | 25 | 17 | Oklahoma | [11] | ||||
10 | February 6, 2002 | Michael Owsley | 40 | 31 | 9 | Black | Missouri | [12] | ||
11 | February 19, 2002 | John William Byrd Jr. | 38 | 19 | 19 | White | Ohio | [13] | ||
12 | February 28, 2002 | Monty Allen Delk | 35 | 16 | Texas | [14] | ||||
13 | March 6, 2002 | Jeffrey Lane Tokar | 37 | 27 | 10 | Missouri | [15] | |||
14 | March 7, 2002 | Gerald Wayne Tigner Jr. | 29 | 20 | 9 | Black | Texas | [16] | ||
15 | March 12, 2002 | Tracy Lee Housel | 43 | 26 | 17 | White | Georgia | [17] | ||
16 | March 14, 2002 | James Earl Patterson | 35 | 19 | 16 | Virginia | [18] | |||
17 | April 2, 2002 | Daniel Lee Zirkle | 33 | 30 | 3 | [19] | ||||
18 | April 10, 2002 | Paul W. Kreutzer | 30 | 20 | 10 | Missouri | [20] | |||
19 | Jose Santellan Sr. | 40 | 31 | 9 | Hispanic | Texas | [21] | |||
20 | April 11, 2002 | William Kendrick Burns | 43 | 22 | 21 | Black | [22] | |||
21 | April 18, 2002 | Gerald Dwight Casey | 47 | 34 | 13 | White | [23] | |||
22 | April 26, 2002 | Alton Coleman | 46 | 28 | 18 | Black | Ohio | [24] | ||
23 | April 30, 2002 | Rodolpho Baiza Hernandez | 52 | 35 | 17 | Hispanic | Texas | [25] | ||
24 | May 3, 2002 | Richard Charles Johnson | 39 | 22 | White | South Carolina | [26] | |||
25 | May 9, 2002 | Reginald Lenard Reeves | 28 | 19 | 9 | Black | Texas | [27] | ||
26 | May 10, 2002 | Lynda Lyon Block | 54 | 45 | Female | White | Alabama | Electrocution | [28] | |
27 | Leslie Dale Martin | 35 | 24 | 11 | Male | Louisiana | Lethal injection | [29] | ||
28 | May 16, 2002 | Ronford Lee Styron Jr. | 32 | 8 | Texas | [30] | ||||
29 | May 22, 2002 | Johnny Joe Martinez | 29 | 20 | 9 | Hispanic | [31] | |||
30 | May 28, 2002 | Napoleon Beazley | 25 | 17 | 8 | Black | [32] | |||
31 | May 30, 2002 | Stanley Allison Baker Jr. | 35 | 27 | White | [33] | ||||
32 | June 12, 2002 | Walter Mickens Jr. | 47 | 37 | 10 | Black | Virginia | [34] | ||
33 | June 13, 2002 | Daniel Earl Reneau | 27 | 20 | 7 | White | Texas | [35] | ||
34 | June 25, 2002 | Robert Otis Coulson | 34 | 24 | 10 | [36] | ||||
35 | June 26, 2002 | Jeffery Lynn Williams | 30 | 23 | 7 | Black | [37] | |||
36 | July 17, 2002 | Tracy Alan Hansen | 39 | 16 | White | Mississippi | [38] | |||
37 | July 23, 2002 | Randall Eugene Cannon | 42 | 25 | 17 | Oklahoma | [39] | |||
38 | July 30, 2002 | Earl Alexander Frederick Sr. | 51 | 38 | 13 | [40] | ||||
39 | August 7, 2002 | Richard William Kutzner | 59 | 53 | 6 | Texas | [41] | |||
40 | August 8, 2002 | T. J. Jones | 25 | 17 | 8 | Black | [42] | |||
41 | August 14, 2002 | Javier Suarez Medina | 33 | 19 | 14 | Hispanic | [43] | |||
42 | Daniel Anthony Basile | 35 | 25 | 10 | White | Missouri | [44] | |||
43 | August 16, 2002 | Wallace Marvin Fugate III | 52 | 41 | 11 | Georgia | [45] | |||
44 | August 20, 2002 | Gary Wayne Etheridge | 38 | 26 | 12 | Texas | [46] | |||
45 | August 23, 2002 | Anthony Green | 40 | 25 | 15 | Black | South Carolina | [47] | ||
46 | August 28, 2002 | Toronto Markkey Patterson | 24 | 17 | 7 | Texas | [48] | |||
47 | September 10, 2002 | Tony Lee Walker | 36 | 26 | 10 | [49] | ||||
48 | September 13, 2002 | Michael Joseph Passaro | 40 | 36 | 4 | White | South Carolina | [50] | ||
49 | September 17, 2002 | Jessie Joe Patrick | 44 | 31 | 13 | Texas | [51] | |||
50 | September 18, 2002 | Ron Scott Shamburger | 30 | 22 | 8 | [52] | ||||
51 | September 24, 2002 | Rex Warren Mays | 42 | 32 | 10 | [53] | ||||
52 | September 25, 2002 | Robert Anthony Buell | 62 | 41 | 21 | Ohio | [54] | |||
53 | Calvin Eugene King | 48 | 40 | 8 | Black | Texas | [55] | |||
54 | October 1, 2002 | James Rexford Powell | 56 | 44 | 12 | White | [56] | |||
55 | October 2, 2002 | Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco | 43 | 27 | 16 | Hispanic | Florida | [57] | ||
56 | October 9, 2002 | Aileen Carol Wuornos | 46 | 33–34 | 12–13 | Female | White | [58] | ||
57 | November 13, 2002 | William Howard Putman | 59 | 37 | 22 | Male | Georgia | [59] | ||
58 | November 14, 2002 | Mir Aimal Kasi | 38 | 28 | 10 | Pakistani | Virginia | [60] | ||
59 | November 19, 2002 | Craig Neil Ogan Jr. | 47 | 34 | 13 | White | Texas | [61] | ||
60 | November 20, 2002 | William Robert Jones Jr. | 37 | 21 | 16 | Missouri | [62] | |||
61 | William Wesley Chappell | 66 | 51 | 15 | Texas | [63] | ||||
62 | December 4, 2002 | Leonard Uresti Rojas | 52 | 44 | 8 | Hispanic | [64] | |||
63 | December 6, 2002 | Ernest West Basden | 50 | 39 | 11 | White | North Carolina | [65] | ||
64 | December 9, 2002 | Linroy Bottoson | 63 | 40 | 23 | Black | Florida | [66] | ||
65 | December 10, 2002 | Desmond Keith Carter | 35 | 24 | 11 | North Carolina | [67] | |||
66 | Jerry Lynn McCracken | 23 | 12 | White | Oklahoma | [68] | ||||
67 | December 11, 2002 | James Paul Collier | 55 | 48 | 7 | Texas | [69] | |||
68 | Jessie Derrell Williams | 51 | 31 | 20 | Mississippi | [70] | ||||
69 | December 12, 2002 | Jay Wesley Neill | 37 | 19 | 18 | Oklahoma | [71] | |||
70 | Anthony Keith Johnson | 46 | 27 | 19 | Alabama | [72] | ||||
71 | December 17, 2002 | Ernest Marvin Carter Jr. | 36 | 23 | 13 | Black | Oklahoma | [73] | ||
Average: | 42 years | 29 years | 13 years | |||||||
Gender | ||
---|---|---|
Male | 69 | 97% |
Female | 2 | 3% |
Ethnicity | ||
White | 46 | 65% |
Black | 18 | 25% |
Hispanic | 6 | 8% |
Pakistani | 1 | 1% |
State | ||
Texas | 33 | 46% |
Oklahoma | 7 | 10% |
Missouri | 6 | 8% |
Georgia | 4 | 6% |
Virginia | 4 | 6% |
Florida | 3 | 4% |
Ohio | 3 | 4% |
South Carolina | 3 | 4% |
Alabama | 2 | 3% |
Mississippi | 2 | 3% |
North Carolina | 2 | 3% |
California | 1 | 1% |
Louisiana | 1 | 1% |
Method | ||
Lethal injection | 70 | 99% |
Electrocution | 1 | % |
Month | ||
January | 9 | 13% |
February | 3 | 4% |
March | 4 | 6% |
April | 7 | 10% |
May | 8 | 11% |
June | 4 | 6% |
July | 3 | 4% |
August | 8 | 11% |
September | 7 | 10% |
October | 3 | 4% |
November | 5 | 7% |
December | 10 | 14% |
Age | ||
20–29 | 7 | 10% |
30–39 | 25 | 35% |
40–49 | 23 | 32% |
50–59 | 12 | 17% |
60–69 | 4 | 6% |
Total | 71 | 100% |
Number of executions | |
---|---|
2003 | 65 |
2002 | 71 |
2001 | 66 |
Total | 202 |
The electric chair is a specialized device employed for carrying out capital punishment through the process of electrocution. During its use, the individual sentenced to death is securely strapped to a specifically designed wooden chair and subjected to electrocution via strategically positioned electrodes affixed to the head and leg. This method of execution was conceptualized by Alfred P. Southwick, a dentist based in Buffalo, New York, in 1881. Over the following decade, this execution technique was developed further, aiming to provide a more humane alternative to the conventional form of execution, particularly hanging. The electric chair was first utilized in 1890 and subsequently became known as a symbol of this method of execution.
Aileen Carol Wuornos was an American serial killer. In 1989–1990, while engaging in street prostitution along highways in Florida, she shot dead and robbed seven of her male clients. Wuornos claimed that her clients had either raped or attempted to rape her, and that the homicides of the men were committed in self-defense. Wuornos was sentenced to death for six of the murders. She was executed on October 9, 2002 by lethal injection after spending more than 10 years on Florida's death row.
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, like 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. The existence of capital punishment in the United States can be traced to early colonial Virginia. Along with Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan, the United States is one of four advanced democracies and the only Western nation that applies the death penalty regularly. It is one of 54 countries worldwide applying it, and was the first to develop lethal injection as a method of execution, which has since been adopted by five other countries. The Philippines has since abolished executions, and Guatemala has done so for civil offenses, leaving the United States as one of four countries to still use this method. It is common practice for the condemned to be administered sedatives prior to execution, regardless of the method used.
Old Sparky is the nickname of the electric chairs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Old Smokey was the nickname of the electric chairs used in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. "Old Sparky" is sometimes used to refer to electric chairs in general, and not one of a specific state.
Florida State Prison (FSP), otherwise known as Raiford Prison, is a correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida, with a Starke postal address. It was formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East Unit" as it was originally part of Florida State Prison near Raiford. The facility, a part of the Florida Department of Corrections, is located on State Road 16 right across the border from Union County. The institution opened in 1961, even though construction was not completed until 1968. With a maximum population of over 1,400 inmates, FSP is one of the largest prisons in the state. FSP houses Florida's one of two male death row cell blocks and the State of Florida execution chamber. Union Correctional Institution also houses male death row inmates while Lowell Annex houses female death row inmates.
Preceded by 2001 | List of people executed in the United States in 2002 | Succeeded by 2003 |