List of juvenile offenders executed in the United States since 1976
This is a list of juvenile offenders executed in the United States since 1976. This list consists of those people executed in the United States for crimes committed while they were juveniles (before reaching the age of majority). Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, 22 people have been executed for crimes committed while they were under the age of 18. All of the 22 executed individuals were males. Twenty-one of them were age 17 when the crime occurred; one, Sean Sellers (executed on February 4, 1999, in Oklahoma), was 16 years old when he murdered his mother, stepfather, and a store clerk.
Since 1642, (in the Thirteen Colonies, the United States under the Articles of Confederation, and the current United States), an estimated 364 juvenile offenders have been put to death by states and the federal government. Twenty-two of those executions occurred after 1976. Due to the slow process of appeals since 1976, it has been highly unusual for a condemned person to actually be under the age of 18 at the time of execution. The youngest person to be executed in the 20th century was George Stinney, electrocuted in South Carolina at the age of 14 on June 16, 1944. The youngest person ever to be sentenced to death in the United States was James Arcene, a Native American, for his role in a robbery and murder committed when he was ten years old. He was, however, 23-years-old when he was actually executed on June 18, 1885.[1] The last execution of a juvenile was convicted murderer Leonard Shockley, who died in the Maryland gas chamber on April 10, 1959, at the age of 17. No one has been under the age of 19 at the time of execution since at least 1964.[2][3]
After the Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), the minimum age at time of crime to be subject to the death penalty is 18, thereby ending execution as a punishment for juvenile offenders. At the time of the Roper v. Simmons decision, there were 71 juvenile offenders awaiting execution on death row: 13 in Alabama; four in Arizona; three in Florida; two in Georgia; four in Louisiana; five in Mississippi; one in Nevada; four in North Carolina; two in Pennsylvania; three in South Carolina; 29 in Texas; and one in Virginia. Detailed summaries of each of these offenders can be found here.
List of juvenile offenders executed in the United States since 1976
Number | Date | Name | Age (at Execution) |
Age (at Offense) |
Race | Gender | State | Method | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 11, 1985 | Rumbaugh, Charles FrancisCharles Francis Rumbaugh | 28 | 17 | White | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [4] |
2 | January 10, 1986 | Roach, James TerryJames Terry Roach | 25 | 17 | White | Male | South Carolina | Electrocution | [5] |
3 | May 15, 1986 | Pinkerton, Jay KellyJay Kelly Pinkerton | 24 | 17 | White | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [6] |
4 | May 18, 1990 | Prejean, DaltonDalton Prejean | 30 | 17 | Black | Male | Louisiana | Electrocution | [7] |
5 | February 11, 1992 | Garrett, Johnny FrankJohnny Frank Garrett | 28 | 17 | White | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [8] |
6 | July 1, 1993 | Harris, Curtis PaulCurtis Paul Harris | 31 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [9] |
7 | July 28, 1993 | Lasley, FrederickFrederick Lasley | 29 | 17 | Black | Male | Missouri | Lethal injection | [10] |
8 | August 24, 1993 | Cantu, Ruben MontoyaRuben Montoya Cantu | 26 | 17 | Mestizo | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [11] |
9 | December 7, 1993 | Burger, ChristopherChristopher Burger | 33 | 17 | White | Male | Georgia | Electrocution | [12] |
10 | April 24, 1998 | Cannon, Joseph JohnJoseph John Cannon | 38 | 17 | White | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [13] |
11 | May 18, 1998 | Carter, Robert AnthonyRobert Anthony Carter | 34 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [14] |
12 | October 14, 1998 | Wright, Dwayne AllenDwayne Allen Wright | 24 | 17 | Black | Male | Virginia | Lethal injection | [15] |
13 | February 5, 1999 | Sellers, Sean RichardSean Richard Sellers | 29 | 16 | White | Male | Oklahoma | Lethal injection | [16] |
14 | January 10, 2000 | Thomas, Douglas ChristopherDouglas Christopher Thomas | 26 | 17 | White | Male | Virginia | Lethal injection | [17] |
15 | January 13, 2000 | Roach, Steve EdwardSteve Edward Roach | 23 | 17 | White | Male | Virginia | Lethal injection | [18] |
16 | January 25, 2000 | McGinnis, Glen CharlesGlen Charles McGinnis | 27 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [19] |
17 | June 22, 2000 | Graham, Gary LeeGary Lee Graham | 36 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [20] |
18 | October 22, 2001 | Mitchell, Gerald LeeGerald Lee Mitchell | 33 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [21] |
19 | May 28, 2002 | Beazley, NapoleonNapoleon Beazley | 25 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [22] |
20 | August 8, 2002 | Jones, T. J.T. J. Jones | 25 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [23] |
21 | August 28, 2002 | Patterson, Toronto MarkkeyToronto Markkey Patterson | 24 | 17 | Black | Male | Texas | Lethal injection | [24] |
22 | April 3, 2003 | Hain, Scott AllenScott Allen Hain | 32 | 17 | White | Male | Oklahoma | Lethal injection | [25] |
See also
- Capital punishment in the United States
- List of women executed in the United States since 1976
- List of offenders executed in the United States in 2013
- Roper v. Simmons
References
- ↑ Before the needles
- ↑ Best Web
- ↑ Juvenile News and Developments - Previous Years
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #048 - Charles Rumbaugh
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #051 - James Terry Roach
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #057 - Jay Pinkerton
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #128 - Dalton Prejean
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #161 - Johnny Garrett
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #207 - Curtis Harris
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #209 - Frederick Lasley
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #214 - Ruben Cantu
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #224 - Christopher Burger
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #455 - Joseph Cannon
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #460 - Robert A. Carter
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #485 - Dwayne Allen Wright
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #512 - Sean Richard Sellers
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #601 - Douglas Christopher Thomas
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #604 - Steve Edward Roach
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #609 - Glen Charles McGinnis
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #648 - Gary Lee Graham
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #737 - Gerald Lee Mitchell
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #779 - Napoleon Beazley
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #789 - T. J. Jones
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #795 - Toronto Markkey Patterson
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - The Death Penalty - #843 - Scott Allen Hain
External links
- Juvenilles: Death Penalty Worldwide Academic research database on the laws, practice, and statistics of capital punishment for every death penalty country in the world.
- Death Penalty Information Center – Juvenile Offenders Who Were On Death Row