Native Americans

Native Americans on Death Row

As of April 2022, 24 individuals identified as Native American were on death rows across the country. The number was down from 26 on January 1, 2017. Eight states and the federal government hold condemned Indian prisoners. As of April 1, 2022, 17 Native Americans have been executed since 1976, accounting for 1% of all executions in the United States. Fourteen Indian prisoners have been executed for killing whites, and three for killing other Native Americans. Native Americans have been victims in 7 cases that have resulted in execution, comprising one-third of one percent of the victims in cases that have resulted in executions. Between 1979-1999, whites killed 32% of the 2,469 Indians murdered, whereas Native Americans killed 1% of the 164,377 whites murdered.

Native Americans Executed in the United States Since the 1970s

Date	Name	Age	Sex	Number, Race, and Sex of Victims	State/Federal	County/Federal District	Method	Juvenile	Volunteer
03/03/1993	James Red Dog	39	Male	1 White Male	Delaware	New Castle County	Lethal Injection	No	Yes
07/31/1996	Emmet Nave	55	Male	1 White Female	Missouri	St. Charles County	Lethal Injection	No	No
05/08/1997	Scott Carpenter	22	Male	1 White Male	Oklahoma	McIntosh County	Lethal Injection	No	Yes
07/29/1997	Robert West	35	Male	1 White Female	Texas	Harris County	Lethal Injection	No	No
03/31/1998	Daniel Remeta	40	Male	1 White Female	Florida	Marion County	Electrocution	No	No
01/07/1999	John Castro	37	Male	1 White Female	Oklahoma	Kay County	Lethal Injection	No	No
02/03/1999	Darrick Gerlaugh	38	Male	1 White Male	Arizona	Maricopa County	Lethal Injection	No	No
10/28/1999	Domingo Cantu	31	Male	1 White Female	Texas	Dallas County	Lethal Injection	No	No
03/15/2000	Darrell Rich	45	Male	3 White Females	California	Yolo County	Lethal Injection	No	No
06/01/2000	James Robedeaux	51	Male	1 White Female	Oklahoma	Oklahoma County	Lethal Injection	No	No
01/18/2001	Dion Smallwood	31	Male	1 Latino Male	Oklahoma	Oklahoma County	Lethal Injection	No	No
05/22/2001	Terrance James	41	Male	1 White Male	Oklahoma	Muskogee County	Lethal Injection	No	No
07/17/2001	Jerald Harjo	40	Male	1 Native American Female	Oklahoma	Seminole County	Lethal Injection	No	No
09/12/2003	Henry Hunt	58	Male	2 Native American Males	North Carolina	Robeson County	Lethal Injection	No	No
01/17/2006	Clarence Allen	76	Male	2 White Males 1 White Female	California	Glenn County	Lethal Injection	No	No
10/26/2010	Jeffrey Landrigan	50	Male	1 White Male	Arizona	Maricopa County	Lethal Injection	No	No
08/26/2020	Lezmond Mitchell	38	Male	2 Native American Females	Federal	District of Arizona	Lethal Injection	No	No
5/11/2022	Clarence Dixon	66	Male	1 White Female	Arizona	Pinal County	Lethal Injection	No	No

Sources

David V. Baker, American Indian Executions in Historical Context, Criminal Justice Studies, 20:4, 315 – 373 (2007).
Death Row USA: A quarterly report by the criminal justice project of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (through April 1, 2022)
S. Perry, American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile, 1992 – 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004).