Executions

Execution List 2020

Seventeen prisoners were executed in the United States in 2020. Five states and the Federal Government carried out executions.

DateNumber Since 1976StateNameAgeRaceVictim RaceMethodDrug ProtocolYears from Sentence to Execution
1/15/20

1513

TXJohn Gardner64W1 White femaleLethal Injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)13
1/29/201514GADonnie Lance65W1 White male, 1 White femaleLethal Injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)21
2/6/201515TXAbel Ochoa47L2 Latinx femalesLethal Injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)17
2/20/201516TNNicholas Todd Sutton58W1 White maleElectrocutionN/A34
3/5/201517ALNathaniel Woods43B3 White malesLethal Injection3-drug (Midazolam)14
5/19/201518MOWalter Barton64W1 White femaleLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)26
7/8/201519TXBilly Joe Wardlow45W1 White maleLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)25
7/14/201520

Federal

Daniel Lewis Lee

47

W

1 White male, 2 White female

Lethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)21
7/16/201521FederalWesley Ira Purkey68W1 White femaleLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)17
7/17/201522FederalDustin Lee Honken52W2 White males, 3 White femalesLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)14
8/26/201523FederalLezmond Mitchell38NA

2 Native American females

Lethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)17
8/28/201524FederalKeith Dwayne Nelson45W1 White female

Lethal injection

1-drug (Pentobarbital)18
9/22/201525FederalWilliam Emmett LeCroy50W1 White femaleLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)16
9/24/201526FederalChristopher Andre Vialva40B

1 White male, 1 White female

Lethal injection

1-drug (Pentobarbital)

20
11/19/201527Federal

Orlando Hall

49B1 Black femaleLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)25
12/10/201528FederalBrandon Bernard40B1 White male, 1 White femaleLethal injection1-drug (Pentobarbital)20
12/11/201529FederalAlfred Bourgeois56B1 Black female

Lethal injection

1-drug (Pentobarbital)18

Most states carry out executions with a three-drug lethal-injection protocol. Others use a single drug. The three-drug protocol typically begins with an anesthetic or sedative, followed by a second drug to paralyze the inmate and a third drug—typically potassium chloride—to stop the prisoner’s heart. The first drug used varies by state and is listed above for each execution.

ƒ female
* volunteer - an inmate who waived ordinary appeals that remained at the time of his or her execution
~ foreign national
¥ white defendant executed for murder of black victim