Executions and Stays 2021


45 execution dates were scheduled by 11 states and the Federal Government for 2021.
There were 11 executions.
15 executions were stayed.
1 execution was halted by commutation.
10 executions were halted by reprieve.
7 warrants were withdrawn/​removed/​vacated/​rescheduled.
1 prisoner died on death row while his warrant was pending.


Date of Scheduled Execution State Prisoner Outcome
January
12FederalLisa 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.

13OHCleveland JacksonREPRIEVED†
14FederalCorey JohnsonPreliminary 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
15FederalDustin HiggsExecution 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.
20OHDawud E. SpauldingLegally Premature Warrant STAYED by the Ohio Supreme Court on March 2, 2017 ​“pend­ing dis­po­si­tion of avail­able state remedies.”†
21TXBlain 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 20216 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 2 states and the federal government3 exe­cu­tions; 2 death war­rants stayed; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve.
February
4TNOscar Franklin SmithSTAY GRANTED by the Tennessee Supreme Court on January 6 as a result of COVID-19 concerns.
10TXEdward BusbySTAY 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.
11ALWillie B. Smith IIITemporary 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.
12SCBrad SigmonEXECUTION 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.”
18OHJames O’NealREPRIEVED†
FEBRUARY 20215 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 5 states3 death war­rants stayed or enjoined; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve; 1 exe­cu­tion date vacated.
March
4TXRamiro IbarraSTAY 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.
18OHMelvin Bonnell REPRIEVED†
24OHSteven E. Cepec DATE REMOVED†
MARCH 20213 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 2 states1 death war­rant stayed; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve; 1 exe­cu­tion date removed.
April
8TNByron Black STAY GRANTED by the Tennessee Supreme Court on December 3, 2020.
20TXRamiro GonzalesExecution resched­uled for November 17, 2021.
21OHElwood JonesREPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on December 18, 2020, and exe­cu­tion resched­uled for December 6, 2023.†
APRIL 20213 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 3 states1 death war­rant stayed; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve; 1 rescheduled
May
14PAPaul Gamboa-TaylorREPRIEVE GRANTED by Governor Tom Wolf on May 7, 2021.
14SCFreddie OwensSTAY GRANTED by the South Carolina Supreme Court on May 4, 2021 “[b]ecause the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) lacks the means to con­duct an exe­cu­tion by lethal injec­tion at this time.” The stay remains in effect ​“until SCDC advis­es the Court it has the abil­i­ty to per­form the exe­cu­tion as required by the law.”
19TXQuintin JonesEXECUTED
26OHDavid MartinSTAY GRANTED by the Ohio Supreme Court on April 8, 2021 pend­ing ​“exhaus­tion of all state post-con­vic­tion pro­ceed­ings, includ­ing any appeals.”
27OHGregory LottREPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on December 18, 2020, and exe­cu­tion resched­uled for February 15, 2024.†
MAY 20215 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 4 states1 exe­cu­tion; 2 exe­cu­tion stayed; 2 exe­cu­tions halt­ed by reprieve
June
2IDGerald PizzutoSTAY GRANTED by the Idaho District Court for the 2nd District on May 18, 2021 ​“until the con­clu­sion of com­mu­ta­tion pro­ceed­ings relat­ed to Mr. Pizzuto’s cur­rent com­mu­ta­tion peti­tion” sched­uled for the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole’s November 2021 hearing session.
18SCBrad SigmonSTAY GRANTED by the South Carolina Supreme Court on June 16, 2021 because the South Carolina law pro­vides a statu­to­ry right for the pris­on­er to elect between exe­cu­tion by elec­tric chair or exe­cu­tion by fir­ing squad and the S.C. Department of Corrections has no pro­ce­dures in place to car­ry out exe­cu­tions by firing squad.
23OHArchie DixonREPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on December 18, 2020, and exe­cu­tion resched­uled for April 17, 2024.†
25SCFreddie OwensSTAY GRANTED by the South Carolina Supreme Court on June 16, 2021 because the South Carolina law pro­vides a statu­to­ry right for the pris­on­er to elect between exe­cu­tion by elec­tric chair or exe­cu­tion by fir­ing squad and the S.C. Department of Corrections has no pro­ce­dures in place to car­ry out exe­cu­tions by firing squad.
30

TX

John HummelEXECUTED
JUNE 20215 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 4 states1 exe­cu­tion; 3 war­rants stayed; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve
July
26NVZane FloydScheduled for week of July 26. Stay grant­ed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on June 28, 2021 because Nevada’s late dis­clo­sure of a nev­er-before-used exe­cu­tion pro­to­col did not pro­vide suf­fi­cient time for the court to order dis­cov­ery, con­duct an evi­den­tiary hear­ing, and deter­mine the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of the pro­to­col. Stay grant­ed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on June 28, 2021 with writ­ten order issued July 7, 2021 (order appealed).

STAY GRANTED by the Nevada state courts on July 9 ​“pend­ing the Nevada Supreme Court’s rul­ing on Mr. Floyd’s pend­ing peti­tion for writ of man­damus and prohibition.”
JULY 20211 exe­cu­tion sched­uled by 1 state1 war­rant stayed
August
11OHTimothy HoffnerREPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on April 9, 2021 and exe­cu­tion resched­uled for June 18, 2024. †
AUGUST 20211 exe­cu­tion sched­uled by 1 state1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve
September
9TXJohn RamirezSTAY GRANTED and peti­tion for a writ of cer­tio­rari grant­ed by the U.S. Supreme Court on September 8, 2021 to deter­mine whether Texas’s restric­tions on reli­gious activ­i­ties in the exe­cu­tion cham­ber vio­late the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
15OHJohn StumpfREPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on April 9, 2021 and exe­cu­tion resched­uled for August 13, 2024. †
28TXRick RhoadesEXECUTED
SEPTEMBER 20213 exe­cu­tion sched­uled by 2 states1 exe­cu­tion; 1 exe­cu­tion stayed; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve
October
5MOErnest JohnsonEXECUTED
12TXStephen BarbeeSTAY GRANTED by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on October 7, 2021 on the same claim reli­gious lib­er­ty claims raised by John Ramirez to pro­vide the District Court ​“time to explore and resolve seri­ous fac­tu­al issues con­cern­ing the bal­ance between [Barbee’s] reli­gious rights and the prison’s valid con­cerns for security.”

20

OHJames FrazierDIED ON DEATH ROW†
21ALWillie B. Smith IIIEXECUTED
27TXRuben GutierrezEXECUTION WARRANT VACATED by the tri­al court in Cameron County on September 15, 2021 pend­ing the out­come of the U.S. Supreme Court deci­sion in John Ramirez’s case on the scope of the right to free exer­cise of reli­gion in the execution chamber.
28OKJohn Marion GrantStay grant­ed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on October 27, 2021 pend­ing the out­come of February 2022 tri­al on the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Oklahoma’s lethal-injec­tion pro­to­col. STAY VACATED by U.S. Supreme Court on October 28.

EXECUTED

OCTOBER 20216 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 5 states3 exe­cu­tions; 1 exe­cu­tion stayed; 1 exe­cu­tion date vacat­ed; 1 pris­on­er died on death row
November
3TXFabian HernandezWITHDRAWN
10TXKosoul ChanthakoummaneEXECUTION WARRANT WITHDRAWN by the Collin County District Court on October 19, 2021 and new exe­cu­tion war­rant issued for August 17, 2022.

17

TXRamiro GonzalesEXECUTION WARRANT WITHDRAWN and new exe­cu­tion war­rant issued for September 13, 2022.
17MSDavid CoxEXECUTED
18OKJulius JonesStay grant­ed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on October 27, 2021 pend­ing the out­come of February 2022 tri­al on the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Oklahoma’s lethal-injec­tion pro­to­col. STAY VACATED by U.S. Supreme Court on October 28.

COMMUTED to life with­out parole by Gov. Kevin Stitt on November 18, 2021 ​“on the con­di­tion that [Jones] shall nev­er again be eli­gi­ble to apply for, be con­sid­ered for, or receive any addi­tion­al com­mu­ta­tion, par­don, or parole.”

NOVEMBER 20215 exe­cu­tions sched­uled by 3 states1 exe­cu­tion; 1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by com­mu­ta­tion; 3 warrants withdrawn
December
9OHLawrence LandrumREPRIEVE GRANTED by Gov. Mike DeWine on April 9, 2021 and exe­cu­tion resched­uled for October 15, 2024. †
9

OK

Bigler Jobe Stouffer

EXECUTED

DECEMBER 20212 exe­cu­tion sched­uled by 2 states1 exe­cu­tion halt­ed by reprieve; 1 execution

† 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
Total

45

11

15

1

10

1

1

6

0

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


May

5

1

2

0

2

0

0

0

June

5

1
3
0
1
0
0
0

July
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

0


August
1

0

0
0

1

0
0

0


September

3

1

1
0
1

0

0
0


October

6

3

1

0
0
1
0
1


November

5

1

0
1
0
0
0

3


December
2
1
0
0

1

0
0
0

0

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/​Vacated
Pending
TOTALS

45

11

15

1

10

1

1

6

0

Texas
13
3
5
0
0
0
1

4

0

Ohio
13
0

2

0

9

1
0
1
0
South Carolina
4
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
0
Federal Government
3
3
0
0
0

0

0
0

0

Oklahoma
3
2
0
1
0
0
0
0

0

Alabama
2

1

1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Tennessee
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
Mississippi
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Missouri
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Idaho
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Nevada
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0

0

Pennsylvania
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0