List of people executed in Arkansas

The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Arkansas since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in the United States.

31 people have been executed in Arkansas since 1976: 30 males and 1 female (Christina Marie Riggs). The first execution was carried out by electric chair; all subsequent executions were carried out by lethal injection. All were executed for the crime of murder.^[1]

List of people executed in Arkansas since 1976

No.	Name	Race	Age	Sex	Date of execution	County	Method	Victim(s)	Governor
1	John Edward Swindler	White	46	M	June 18, 1990	Sebastian	Electrocution	Fort Smith police officer Randy Basnett[a]	Bill Clinton
2	Ronald Gene Simmons	White	49	M	June 25, 1990	Pope	Lethal injection	16 murder victims[b]
3	Ricky Ray Rector	Black	42	M	January 24, 1992	Faulkner		Conway police officer Robert Martin
4	Steven Douglas Hill	White	25	M	May 7, 1992	Pulaski		Arkansas State police officer Robert Klein
5	Edward Charles Pickens	Black	39	M	May 11, 1994	Prairie		Wesley Noble	Jim Guy Tucker
6	Jonas Hoten Whitmore	White	50	M		Montgomery		Essie Mae Black
7	Hoyt Franklin Clines	White	37	M	August 3, 1994	Benton		Donald Lehman
8	Darryl V. Richley	White	43	M
9	James William Holmes	White	37	M
10	Richard Wayne Snell	White	64	M	April 19, 1995	Miller		William Stumpp
11	Barry Lee Fairchild	Black	41	M	August 31, 1995	Pulaski		Marjorie Mason
12	William Frank Parker	White	41	M	August 8, 1996	Benton		James Warren and Sandra Warren	Mike Huckabee
13	Paul Ruiz	Hispanic	49	M	January 8, 1997	Logan		Magazine Town Marshall Marvin Richie and Opal James[c][2]
14	Earl Von Denton	White	47	M
15	Kirt Douglas Wainwright	Black	30	M		Nevada		Barbara Smith
16	Eugene Wallace Perry	White	53	M	August 6, 1997	Crawford		Kenneth Staton and Suzanne Staton-Ware
17	Wilburn A. Henderson	White	56	M	July 8, 1998	Sebastian		Willa Dean O'Neal
18	Johnie Michael Cox	White	42	M	February 16, 1999	White		Marie Sullens, Margaret Brown, and Billy Brown
19	Marion Albert Pruett	White	49	M	April 12, 1999	Sebastian		Bobbie Jean Robertson[d]
20	Mark Edward Gardner	White	43	M	September 8, 1999			Joe Joyce, Martha Joyce, and Sara McCurdy
21	Alan Willett	White	52	M		Johnson		Eric Willett and Roger Willett
22	Christina Marie Riggs	White	28	F	May 2, 2000	Pulaski		Justin Riggs and Shelby Alexis Riggs
23	David Dewayne Johnson	Black	37	M	December 19, 2000			Leon Brown
24	Clay King Smith	White	30	M	May 8, 2001	Jefferson		5 murder victims[e]
25	Riley Dobi Noel	Black	31	M	July 9, 2003	Pulaski		Marcell Young, Malak Hussian, and Mustafa Hussian
26	Charles Laverne Singleton	Black	44	M	January 6, 2004	Ashley		Mary Lou York
27	Eric Randall Nance	White	45	M	November 28, 2005	Hot Spring		Julie Heath
28	Ledell T. Lee	Black	51	M	April 20, 2017	Pulaski		Debra Reese	Asa Hutchinson
29	Jack Harold Jones Jr.	White	52	M	April 24, 2017	White		Mary Phillips[f]
30	Marcel Wayne Williams	Black	46	M		Pulaski		Stacy Rae Errickson
31	Kenneth Dewayne Williams	Black	38	M	April 27, 2017	Lincoln		Cecil Boren[g]

Demographics

Race
White	20	65%
Black	10	32%
Hispanic	1	3%
Age
20–29	2	6%
30–39	8	26%
40–49	14	45%
50–59	6	19%
60–69	1	3%
Sex
Male	30	97%
Female	1	3%
Date of execution
1976–1979	0	0%
1980–1989	0	0%
1990–1999	21	68%
2000–2009	6	19%
2010–2019	4	13%
2020–2029	0	0%
Method
Lethal injection	30	97%
Electrocution	1	3%
Governor (Party)
David Pryor (D)	0	0%
Joe Purcell (D)	0	0%
Bill Clinton (D)	4	13%
Frank D. White (R)	0	0%
Jim Guy Tucker (D)	7	23%
Mike Huckabee (R)	16	52%
Mike Beebe (D)	0	0%
Asa Hutchinson (R)	4	13%
Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)	0	0%
Total	31	100%

See also

• Capital punishment in Arkansas
• Capital punishment in the United States

Notes

1. Swindler was also convicted in South Carolina for killing Gregory Becknell and Dorothy Rhodes
2. The 16 victims were: Ronald Simmons Jr., Bersabe Simmons, Barbara Simmons, Loretta Simmons, Eddy Simmons, Marianne Simmons, Rebecca Simmons, William Simmons II, Renata Simmons, William Simmons III, Sheila McNulty, Dennis McNulty, Sylvia McNulty, Michael McNulty, Kathleen Kendrick, and James Chaffin.
3. Ruiz and Von Denton also killed four other people in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
4. Pruett also killed four other people in New Mexico, Mississippi and Colorado.
5. The 5 victims were: Misty Erwin, Shelley Sorg, Sean Sorg, Taylor Sorg, and Samantha Rhodes.
6. Jones also killed Regina Harrison and Lori Barrett in Florida.
7. Williams was previously convicted of murdering Dominique Hurd and Jerrell Jenkins.

References

1. "Execution Database | Death Penalty Information Center". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
2. Parrish, Glenn. "Murders Still Fresh, Four Decades Later". Southwest Times Record.