Recent Death Sentences By Name, Race, County, And Year

2020 Death Sentences by Name, Race, and County

Driven by the com­bined effects of a glob­al pan­dem­ic and the con­tin­u­ing decline in pub­lic sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, new death sen­tences reached his­toric lows in 2020. Fewer new death sen­tences were imposed in the United States in 2020 than in any oth­er year since the Supreme Court struck down all exist­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ments statutes in the U.S. in 1972. With coun­ties unable to safe­ly con­duct cap­i­tal tri­als, states imposed a record low 18 new death sen­tences, 42% below the pre­vi­ous record low of 31 set in 2016

Most of these sen­tences (11) were imposed in the first three months of 2020, before courts across the coun­try halt­ed tri­als as a pre­cau­tion against the pan­dem­ic. Nearly all the death sen­tences imposed after that time involved judge-only pro­ceed­ings, con­sist­ing of court deci­sions for­mal­ly accept­ing pre-pan­dem­ic jury sen­tenc­ing rec­om­men­da­tions or tri­als in which a defen­dant waived the right to a jury.

Only sev­en states – Alabama, California, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas – imposed new death sen­tences this year, and just three – California, Florida, and Texas – imposed more than one. 

Only two coun­ties in the United States – Riverside, California (3 sen­tences) and Lafayette, Florida (2 sen­tences) – imposed more than one death sen­tence, and the Lafayette death sen­tences were the prod­uct of a sin­gle tri­al in which both defen­dants pled guilty, waived a sen­tenc­ing jury, rep­re­sent­ed them­selves, and pre­sent­ed no case for life. This was the third time in the last five years that Riverside County led the nation in death sen­tences. The fif­teen coun­ties that imposed death sen­tences rep­re­sent less than half of one per­cent of all U.S. counties.



Defendants Sentenced to Death in 2020

First NameMiddle NameLast NameStateCountyDate Sentence Formally ImposedRace DefendantNumber /​Race of Victim(s)Age at CrimeNon-Unanimous /​Judge Sentencing
EdwardLittletonMcCauleyAZMaricopa1/​9/​20White1 White Female58
Israel Ramirez Guardado CA Riverside 1/​24/​20 Latinx 1 Latina Female 37
VincentJamesMarplesCARiverside6/​26/​20White1 White Female34
JessePerezTorresCARiverside12/​4/​20Latinx1 Latina Female34
Charles Merritt CA San Bernardino 1/​21/​20 White 3 White Males, 1 White Female 53
Hernan Rodriguez CA Tulare 6/​26/​20 Latinx 2 Latino Males 24
GranvilleRitchieFLHillsborough9/​11/​20Black1 Black Female35
JesseBellFLLafayette3/​13/​20White1 White Male451‑judge sen­tenc­ing
BarryNoetzelFLLafayette3/​13/​20White1 White Male451‑judge sen­tenc­ing
MarkSieversFLLee1/​3/​20White1 White Female47
MarlinJosephFLPalm Beach11/​19/​20Black2 Black Females26
Michael Gordon FL Polk 2/​7/​20 Black 2 White Females 34
ThomasFletcherFLSanta Rosa11/​24/​20White1 White Male50
Willie Cory Godbolt MS Lincoln 2/​27/​20 Black 1 White Male, 2 Black Males, 1 Black Female 35
JoelDrainOHWarren5/​18/​20White1 White Male373‑judge sen­tenc­ing
ByronShepardOKPottawatomie1/​3/​20White1 White Male36
Brandon McCall TX Collin 2/​27/​20 White 1 White Male 26
Lucky Ward TX Harris 3/​10/​20 Black 1 Latino Female, 1 Black Female 44

2020 Death Sentences by Race of Defendant and Victim




2020 Death Sentences by County


2020 Death Sentences by State