Outcomes of Death Warrants in 2021

Executions and Stays 2021

(Last updated April 13, 2021)

30 execution dates have been scheduled by 5 states and the Federal Government for 2021.

To date, there have been 3 executions.

8 executions have been stayed.*

No executions have been halted by commutation.

9 executions have been halted by reprieve.

3 warrants have been withdrawn/removed/vacated/rescheduled.

1 prisoner has died on death row while his warrant was pending.

6 death warrants are pending.^

* Does not include cases with stays of execution or preliminary injunctions that are currently under appeal or are still subject to appeal.
^ Includes cases with stays of execution that are under appeal or are still subject to appeal.

Date of Scheduled Execution	State	Prisoner	Outcome
January
12	Federal	Lisa Montgomery	Execution date vacated by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on December 24, 2020 because the new execution date was set while a stay of execution was in effect, in violation of the terms of federal execution regulations. On January 1, 2021, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the district court’s order, and the full court denied reargument. Stay granted by U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on January 11, 2021 pending “highly expedited initial hearing en banc of Montgomery’s appeal to resolve our circuit law on the important question of the meaning of ‘implementation of death in the manner prescribed by the law of the State in which the sentence is imposed,’ under the Federal Death Penalty Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3596(a).” Stay vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 12. Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on January 11, 2021 to permit consideration of Montgomery’s claim that she is mentally incompetent to be executed. Stay vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on January 12. Stay granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on January 12, 2021 to permit appeal on whether the execution notice violated the terms of the trial court’s sentencing order. Stay vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court near midnight on January 12. EXECUTED January 13, 2021.
13	OH	Cleveland Jackson	REPRIEVED†
14	Federal	Corey Johnson	Preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on January 12, 2021 on the grounds that lethal injection with pentobarbital would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, given his active COVID-19 infection. A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 on January 14 to vacate the preliminary injunction. EXECUTED
15	Federal	Dustin Higgs	Execution notice invalidated by U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on December 29, 2020. Original sentencing order requires execution per Maryland procedures, while execution set for Indiana. Court says its lacks authority to modify the sentencing order. (The Department of Justice filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on December 31.) Stay vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court near midnight on January 15. Preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on January 12, 2021 on the grounds that lethal injection with pentobarbital would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, given his active COVID-19 infection. A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 on January 14 to vacate the preliminary injunction. EXECUTED January 16, 2021.
20	OH	Dawud E. Spaulding	Legally Premature Warrant STAYED by the Ohio Supreme Court on March 2, 2017 “pending disposition of available state remedies.”†
21	TX	Blain Milam	STAY GRANTED by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on January 15, 2021 and remanded to the trial court for consideration of Milam’s claim that he is ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability.
JANUARY 2021	6 executions scheduled by 2 states and the federal government		3 executions; 2 death warrants stayed; 1 execution halted by reprieve.
February
4	TN	Oscar Franklin Smith	STAY GRANTED by the Tennessee Supreme Court on January 6 as a result of COVID-19 concerns.
10	TX	Edward Busby	STAY GRANTED by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on February 3, 2021 and remanded to the trial court for consideration of Busby’s claim that he is ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability.
11	AL	Willie Smith III	Temporary stay granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on February 10, 2021 until February 16 to provide the court time to consider a claim Smith raised under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Stay vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court close to midnight Eastern time on February 11, 2021. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION GRANTED by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on February 10, 2021 based on Smith’s claim that Alabama’s refusal to permit his pastor in the execution chamber violates federal religious discrimination law. Application to vacate the injunction DENIED by the U.S. Supreme Court close to midnight Eastern time on February 11, 2021.
12	SC	Brad Sigmon	EXECUTION DATE VACATED by the South Carolina Supreme Court on February 4, 2021 on the grounds that “the execution is currently impossible” because the Department of Corrections “will not be able to obtain the required drugs prior to the scheduled date of execution.”
18	OH	James O’Neal	REPRIEVED†
FEBRUARY 2021	5 executions scheduled by 5 states		3 death warrants stayed or enjoined; 1 execution halted by reprieve; 1 execution date vacated.
March
4	TX	Ramiro Ibarra	STAY GRANTED by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on February 24, 2021 and remanded to the trial court for consideration of Ibarra’s claims that he is ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability and that new DNA science shows that the evidence used to convict him was unreliable.
18	OH	Melvin Bonnell	REPRIEVED†
24	OH	Steven E. Cepec	DATE REMOVED†
MARCH 2021	3 executions scheduled by 2 states		1 death warrant stayed; 1 execution halted by reprieve; 1 execution date removed.
April
8	TN	Byron Black	STAY GRANTED by the Tennessee Supreme Court on December 3, 2020.
20	TX	Ramiro Gonzales	Execution rescheduled for November 17, 2021.
21	OH	Elwood Jones	REPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on December 18, 2020, and execution rescheduled for December 6, 2023.†
APRIL 2021	3 executions scheduled by 3 states		1 death warrant stayed; 1 execution halted by reprieve; 1 rescheduled
May
14	PA	Paul Gamboa-Taylor	Pending
19	TX	Quintin Jones	Pending
26	OH	David Martin	STAY GRANTED by the Ohio Supreme Court on April 8, 2021 pending “exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings, including any appeals.”
27	OH	Gregory Lott	REPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on December 18, 2020, and execution rescheduled for February 15, 2024.†
MAY 2021	4 executions scheduled by 3 states		1 execution halted by reprieve; 1 execution stayed; 2 warrants pending
June
23	OH	Archie Dixon	REPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on December 18, 2020, and execution rescheduled for April 17, 2024.†
30	TX	John Hummel	Pending
JUNE 2021	2 executions scheduled by 2 states		1 execution halted by reprieve; 1 warrant pending
July
None
JULY 2021	No executions scheduled
August
11	OH	Timothy Hoffner	REPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on April 9, 2021 and execution rescheduled for June 18, 2024. †
AUGUST 2021	1 execution scheduled by 1 state		1 execution halted by reprieve
September
9	TX	John Ramirez	Pending
15	OH	John Stumpf	REPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on April 9, 2021 and execution rescheduled for August 13, 2024. †
28	TX	Rick Rhoades	Pending
SEPTEMBER 2021	3 execution scheduled by 2 states		1 execution halted by reprieve; 2 warrants pending
October
20	OH	James Frazier	Died on death row†
OCTOBER 2021	1 execution scheduled by 1 state		1 prisoner died on death row
November
17	TX	Ramiro Gonzalez	Pending
NOVEMBER 2021	1 execution scheduled by 1 state		1 warrant pending
December
9	OH	Lawrence Landrum	REPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on April 9, 2021 and execution rescheduled for October 15, 2024. †
DECEMBER 2021	1 execution scheduled by 1 state		1 execution halted by reprieve

† On February 19, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated that the state would not carry out any executions until it devised a new execution protocol that was approved by the courts. However, he did not formally halt the executions scheduled in the state. In December 2020, he indicated that he did not consider lethal injection a viable execution method.

2021 Death Warrant Outcomes Nationally, by Month
Month	Scheduled Executions	Executions	Stayed by Courts*	Commutations	Reprieves	Died on Death Row	Rescheduled	Date Removed or Warrant Withdrawn/ Vacated	Pending
January	6	3	2	0	1	0	0	0
February	5	0	3	0	1	0	0	1
March	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	1
April	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0
May	4	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2
June	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
July	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
August	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
September	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
October	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
November	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
December	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Total	30	3	8	0	9	1	1	2	6

2021 Death Warrant Outcomes by Jurisdiction
State	Scheduled Executions	Executions	Stayed by Courts*	Commutations	Reprieves	Died on Death Row	Rescheduled	Date Removed or Warrant Withdrawn	Pending
Federal Government	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio	13	0	2	0	9	1	0	1	0
Texas	9	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	5
Tennessee	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alabama	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pennsylvania	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
South Carolina	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TOTALS	30	3	8	0	9	1	0	2	6

Intellectual Disability

Apr 15, 2021