![]() | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(July 2025) |
Executions of white defendants for killing black victims are rare. [1] Since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States in 1976, just 21 white people have been executed for killing a black person (less than 1.36 percent of all executions), whereas the number of black people executed for killing a white person is 299 (making up nearly 19.4 percent of all executions). [2] [3] Of the 21 executed, seven were put to death for racially motivated murders. Additionally, a further 12 white people have been executed for killing a black person, four in racially motivated cases, and another person, or people, of a different race. [2] [3] [4]
Prior to the 1976 re-instatement of capital punishment in the United States, the last execution of a white person for the killing of a black person was in 1944, when Fred L. Brady, a 46-year-old white man with a long criminal record, was executed for murdering Joe Williams, a black man, during an attempted robbery in Kansas. [1]
Indicates cases where the executed defendant killed multiple people of different races
No. | Date of execution | Executed person | Age | State | Method | Victim(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 6, 1991 | Donald Henry Gaskins | 58 | South Carolina | Electrocution | Rudolph Tyner (1 Black male) [a] | [4] [1] |
2 | January 24, 1995 | Kermit Smith Jr. | 37 | North Carolina | Lethal injection | Whelette Collins (1 Black female) | [4] [5] |
3 | March 20, 1995 | Thomas Joseph Grasso | 32 | Oklahoma | Hilda Johnson (1 Black female) [b] | [4] [6] | |
4 | July 1, 1995 | Roger Dale Stafford | 43 | Oklahoma | Lethal injection | Isaac Freeman, Louis Zacarias, Terri Horst, Linda Lorenz, David Lindsey, Melvin Lorenz, Richard Lorenz, David Salsman, and Anthony Tew (1 Black male, 1 Hispanic male, 2 White females, 5 White males) | [4] [7] [8] |
5 | December 6, 1995 | Robert Earl O'Neal Jr. | 34 | Missouri | Lethal injection | Arthur Dade (1 Black male) [c] | [4] [9] |
6 | June 6, 1997 | Henry Francis Hays | 42 | Alabama | Electrocution | Michael Donald (1 Black male) [d] | [4] [10] |
7 | December 11, 1997 | Thomas Howard Beavers Jr. | 26 | Virginia | Lethal injection | Marguerite Lowery (1 Black female) | [4] [11] [12] |
8 | March 6, 1998 | John David Arnold Jr. | 43 | South Carolina | Betty Gardner (1 Black female) [e] | [4] [13] | |
9 | July 10, 1998 | John Herman Plath | [4] [14] | ||||
10 | September 25, 1998 | Sammy Roberts | 40 | South Carolina | Lethal injection | Louis Cakley, Kenneth Krause, and Bill Spain (1 Black male, 2 White males) | [4] [15] [16] |
11 | April 28, 1999 | Eric Christopher Payne | 26 | Virginia | Ruth Parham and Sally Fazio (1 Black female, 1 White female) | [4] [11] | |
12 | July 6, 1999 | Gary Michael Heidnik | 55 | Pennsylvania | Lethal injection | Deborah Dudley and Sandra Lindsay (2 Black females) | [4] [17] |
13 | July 8, 1999 | Norman Lee Newsted | 45 | Oklahoma | Larry Donnell Buckley (1 Black male) [f] | [4] [18] | |
14 | July 21, 1999 | Tommy David Strickler | 33 | Virginia | Leann Whitlock (1 Black female) | [4] [11] [12] | |
15 | May 3, 2002 | Richard Charles Johnson | 39 | South Carolina | Bruce Kenneth Smalls (1 Black male) [g] | [4] [19] | |
16 | September 10, 2003 | Larry Allen Hayes | 54 | Texas | Lethal injection | Rosalyn Ann Robinson and Mary Evelyn Hayes (1 Black female, 1 White female) | [4] [20] [21] [22] |
17 | July 14, 2006 | William Ernest Downs Jr. | 39 | South Carolina | Lethal injection | Keenan O'Mailia (1 Black male) [h] | [4] [23] |
18 | July 20, 2006 | Brandon Wayne Hedrick | 27 | Virginia | Electrocution | Lisa Yvonne Crider (1 Black female) | [4] [11] [24] |
19 | November 9, 2006 | John Yancey Schmitt | 33 | Lethal injection | Earl Shelton Dunning (1 Black male) | [4] [11] [25] | |
20 | September 12, 2007 | Daryl Keith Holton | 45 | Tennessee | Electrocution | Kayla Holton, Brent Holton, Eric Holton, and Stephen Holton (1 Black female, 3 White males) | [4] [26] |
21 | June 6, 2008 | David Mark Hill | 48 | South Carolina | Lethal injection | Josie Curry, Michael Gregory, and James Riddle (1 Black female, 2 White males) [i] | [4] [27] [28] |
22 | February 17, 2011 | Frank G. Spisak Jr. | 59 | Ohio | Rev. Horace T. Rickerson, Brian Warford, and Timothy Sheehan (2 Black males, 1 White male) [j] | [4] [29] | |
23 | June 16, 2011 | Lee Andrew Taylor | 32 | Texas | Lethal injection | Donta Green (1 Black male) [k] | [4] [30] [31] [22] |
24 | September 21, 2011 | Lawrence Russell Brewer | 44 | James Byrd Jr. (1 Black male) [l] | [4] [32] [33] | ||
25 | February 8, 2012 | Edwin Hart Turner | 38 | Mississippi | Eddie Brooks and Everett Curry (2 Black males) | [4] [34] | |
26 | September 25, 2012 | Cleve Foster | 48 | Texas | Nyanuer Gatluak "Mary" Pal (1 Black female) [m] | [4] [35] | |
27 | January 16, 2013 | Robert Charles Gleason Jr. | 42 | Virginia | Electrocution | Aaron Alexander Cooper and Harvey Gray Watson Jr. (1 Black male, 1 White male) [n] | [4] [11] [36] |
28 | March 6, 2013 | Frederick Treesh | 48 | Ohio | Lethal injection | Henry Dupree (1 Black male) [o] | [4] [37] |
29 | September 25, 2013 | Harry Mitts Jr. | 61 | Ohio | Lethal injection | John A. Bryant and Dennis Glivar (1 Black male, 1 White male) [p] | [4] [38] |
30 | January 11, 2017 | Christopher Chubasco Wilkins | 48 | Texas | Willie Ladell Freeman and Mike Silva (1 Black male, 1 Hispanic male) | [4] [39] | |
31 | July 6, 2017 | William Charles Morva | 35 | Virginia | Derrick McFarland and Eric Sutphin (1 Black male, 1 White male) | [4] [11] | |
32 | August 24, 2017 | Mark James Asay | 53 | Florida | Robert Lee Booker and Robert McDowell (1 Black male, 1 Mixed-race male) [q] | [4] [40] | |
33 | April 24, 2019 | John William King | 44 | Texas | Lethal injection | James Byrd Jr. (1 Black male) [r] | [4] [41] |
Sex | ||
---|---|---|
Male | 33 | 100% |
Female | 0 | 0% |
Date of execution | ||
1976–1979 | 0 | 0% |
1980–1989 | 0 | 0% |
1990–1999 | 14 | 42% |
2000–2009 | 7 | 21% |
2010–2019 | 12 | 36% |
2020–2029 | 0 | 0% |
Age | ||
20–29 | 3 | 9% |
30–39 | 10 | 30% |
40–49 | 14 | 42% |
50–59 | 5 | 15% |
60–69 | 1 | 3% |
State | ||
South Carolina | 7 | 21% |
Virginia | 7 | 21% |
Texas | 6 | 18% |
Ohio | 3 | 9% |
Oklahoma | 3 | 9% |
Alabama | 1 | 3% |
Florida | 1 | 3% |
Mississippi | 1 | 3% |
Missouri | 1 | 3% |
North Carolina | 1 | 3% |
Pennsylvania | 1 | 3% |
Tennessee | 1 | 3% |
Method | ||
Lethal injection | 28 | 85% |
Electrocution | 5 | 15% |
Total | 33 | 100% |
At least six white people have died on death row while awaiting execution for the murders of black victims.
Indicates cases where the condemned defendant killed multiple people of different races
No. | Date of death | Inmate | Cause of death | Age | State | Victim(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | June 12, 1993 | Wayne Kenneth DeLong | Suicide [s] | 36 | Virginia | George R. Taylor (1 Black male) [t] | [42] [43] |
2 | August 28, 1997 | Donald Lee Vigneault Jr. | Cancer | 47 | Texas | Loretta Jones (1 Black female) | [44] [45] [46] |
3 | May 13, 2010 | Sheldon Ward | Cancer | 30 | Texas | Nyanuer Gatluak "Mary" Pal (1 Black female) [u] | [35] |
4 | Unknown | Robert Leo Carroll | Unknown | Unknown | Alabama | William "Sunshine" Sanders (1 Black male) [v] | [47] [48] |
5 | July 3, 2020 | Scott Thomas Erskine | COVID-19 | 57 | California | Jonathan Sellers and Charlie Keever (1 Black male, 1 White male) [w] | [49] |
6 | July 7, 2020 | David John Reed | COVID-19 | 60 | California | Ricky Mosley (1 Black male) [x] | [50] [51] |
7 | June 24, 2025 | Johnathan Wayne Goforth | Oral cancer and sepsis | 64 | Kentucky | Lonetta White (1 Black female) [y] | [52] |
At least seven white people were sentenced to death for killing black victims, but were spared after their either jurisdiction abolished capital punishment or blanketly limited its application. For example, in 2005, two white males who were on death for killing black victims both had their sentences commuted to life in prison since they were juveniles at the time. [53]
No. | Date of commutation | Inmate | Reason for commutation | State | Victim(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | January 11, 2003 | Maynard McCallister Jr. | Blanket clemency for everyone on death row in jurisdiction | Illinois | Stanley Williams Sr., Ernestine McCoy, and Orlando McCoy (2 Black males and 1 Black female) [z] | [54] |
2 | January 11, 2003 | Edward Spreitzer | Blanket clemency for everyone on death row in jurisdiction | Illinois | Linda Sutton (1 Black female) [aa] | [55] |
3 | April 16, 2004 | Charles Kight | Intellectual disability | Florida | Lawrence Butler (1 Black male) | [56] [57] |
4 | March 1, 2005 | William Thomas Knotts | Juvenile offender | Alabama | Helen Rhodes (1 Black female) | [53] |
5 | March 1, 2005 | William Joseph Holly | Juvenile offender | Mississippi | David Norwood Jr. (1 Black male) | [58] [53] |
6 | July 23, 2008 | Joseph Daniel Miller | Intellectual disability [ab] | Pennsylvania | Selina Franklin and Stephanie McDuffey (2 Black females) [ac] | [56] [59] |
7 | March 9, 2011 | David Damm | Abolition of capital punishment in jurisdiction | Illinois | Donnisha Hill (1 Black female) [ad] | [60] |