Mumia Abu-Jamal is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He became widely known while on death row for his writings and commentary on the criminal justice system in the United States. After numerous appeals, his death penalty sentence was overturned by a Federal court. In 2011, the prosecution agreed to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. He entered the general prison population early the following year.
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. is an American former music executive and the co-founder and CEO of Death Row Records, who was a central figure in gangsta rap's catapult to massive commercialization. This feat is attributed to the record label's first two album releases: Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993.
Mark David Chapman is an incarcerated American who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. As Lennon walked into the archway of his apartment at The Dakota, Chapman fired five shots at Lennon from a few yards away with a Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special revolver. Lennon was hit four times from the back. Chapman remained at the scene reading J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested by police. He planned to cite the novel as his manifesto.
Darlie Lynn Peck Routier is an American woman from Rowlett, Texas, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of her five-year-old son Damon in 1996. She has also been charged with capital murder in the death of her six-year-old son, Devon, who was murdered at the same time as Damon. To date, Routier has not specifically been tried for Devon’s murder.
Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is either abolished, suspended, or an active/inactive legal penalty in parts of the United States, with it being a legal punishment in 27 states, American Samoa, the federal government, and the military. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, only 21 states have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other 6, 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, Taiwan, and Singapore, 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 offences, 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.
A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual that often precedes execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be.
Scott Lee Peterson is an American convicted murderer who is currently incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Modesto, California.
United States Army soldier Tracie Joy McBride was kidnapped, raped and murdered on February 18, 1995. Louis Jones Jr., a former soldier, was tried and convicted in the U.S. federal court system of kidnapping resulting in death. Jones, sentenced to death because he had also raped her, argued that he should be spared the death penalty due to the traumatic effects of Gulf War syndrome. His appeals were unsuccessful and he was put to death by lethal injection in 2003.
The Federal Medical Center, Carswell is a United States federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas for female inmates of all security levels with special medical and mental health needs. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has a prison camp for minimum-security female inmates.
Mountain View Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison housing female offenders in Gatesville, Texas. The unit, with about 97 acres (39 ha) of land, is located 4 miles (6.4 km) north of central Gatesville on Farm to Market Road 215. The prison is located in a 45-minute driving distance from Waco. In addition to its other functions, Mountain View Unit houses the state's female death row inmates.
Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison in West Livingston, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, United States, located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Livingston along Farm to Market Road 350. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the facility. The unit houses the State of Texas death row for men, and it has a maximum capacity of 2,900. Livingston Municipal Airport is located on the other side of FM 350. The unit, along the Big Thicket, is 60 miles (97 km) east of Huntsville.
Amir Mirza Hekmati ; is a former United States Marine who was arrested in August 2011 for allegedly spying for the CIA in Iran. On January 9, 2012, he was sentenced to death for the charges. On March 5, 2012, the Iranian Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and ordered a retrial, saying the verdict against Hekmati was "not complete". On January 16, 2016, Hekmati was released and allowed to leave Iran as part of a prisoner trade between the U.S. and Iran. He returned to the United States on January 21, 2016. He sued the Government of Iran on May 11, 2016. He received a default judgment of $63 million on October 3, 2017. In November 2019 he sued the government for unpaid compensation. According to the assistant attorney general they are reconsidering if he is eligible.
Tupac Shakur, a highly successful American hip hop artist, was fatally shot on September 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 25 years old. The shooting occurred at 11:15 p.m. (PDT), when the car carrying Shakur was stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane.
MNRK Music Group is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had been acquired by the present-day Entertainment One (eOne) in 2005. In April 2021, after the acquisition of eOne by Hasbro, the company announced that it would sell eOne Music to The Blackstone Group.
The killing of Charley Leundeu Keunang, a 43-year-old Cameroonian national, occurred in Los Angeles, California, on March 1, 2015. He was shot by three Los Angeles Police Department officers.
The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series was the 24th season of the IndyCar Series and the 108th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2019 Indianapolis 500, with Will Power entering as the defending winner. Honda entered as the defending Manufacturers' Cup champion. Scott Dixon entered the season as the defending National Champion.
