List of people executed in the United States in 2017

This is a list of people executed in the United States in 2017. A total of twenty-three people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2017, all by lethal injection. The state of Arkansas executed four people in April, ending a hiatus on executions in the state which had lasted for over 11 years. Virginia conducted its final two executions in 2017, with the state having since abolished capital punishment in 2021.^[1]

List of people executed in the United States in 2017

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 11, 2017	Christopher Chubasco Wilkins	48	37	11	Male	White	Texas	Lethal injection	[2][3]
2	January 18, 2017	Ricky Javon Gray	39	28			Black	Virginia		[4]
3	January 26, 2017	Terry Darnell Edwards	43		15			Texas		[5][6]
4	January 31, 2017	Mark Anthony Christeson	37	18	19		White	Missouri		[7]
5	March 7, 2017	Rolando Ruiz Jr.	44	20	24		Hispanic	Texas		[8][9]
6	March 14, 2017	James Eugene Bigby	61	32	29		White			[10][11]
7	April 20, 2017	Ledell T. Lee	51	27	24		Black	Arkansas		[12]
8	April 24, 2017	Jack Harold Jones Jr.	52	30	22		White			[13][14]
9		Marcel Wayne Williams	46	24			Black
10	April 27, 2017	Kenneth Dewayne Williams	38	20	18					[15]
11	May 17, 2017	John W. Ledford III	45		25		White	Georgia		[16]
12	May 26, 2017	Thomas Douglas "Tommy" Arthur	75	40	35			Alabama		[17]
13	June 8, 2017	Robert Bryant Melson	46	22	24		Black			[18]
14	July 6, 2017	William Charles Morva	35	24	11		White	Virginia		[19]
15	July 26, 2017	Ronald Ray Phillips	43	19	24			Ohio		[20]
16	July 27, 2017	Taichin Preyor	46	33	13		Black	Texas		[21][22]
17	August 24, 2017	Mark James Asay	53	23	30		White	Florida		[23]
18	September 13, 2017	Gary Wayne Otte	45	20	25			Ohio		[24]
19	October 5, 2017	Michael Ray Lambrix	57	22	35			Florida		[25]
20	October 12, 2017	Robert Lynn Pruett	38	20	18			Texas		[26]
21	October 19, 2017	Torrey Twane McNabb	40		20		Black	Alabama		[27]
22	November 8, 2017	Patrick Charles Hannon	53	26	27		White	Florida		[28]
23		Ruben Cardenas Ramirez	47		21		Hispanic	Texas		[29][30]
		Average:	47 years	25 years	22 years

Demographics

Gender
Male	23	100%
Female	0	0%
Ethnicity
White	13	56%
Black	8	35%
Hispanic	2	9%
State
Texas	7	30%
Arkansas	4	17%
Alabama	3	13%
Florida	3	13%
Ohio	2	9%
Virginia	2	9%
Georgia	1	4%
Missouri	1	4%
Method
Lethal injection	23	100%
Month
January	4	17%
February	0	0%
March	2	9%
April	4	17%
May	2	9%
June	1	4%
July	3	13%
August	1	4%
September	1	4%
October	3	13%
November	2	9%
December	0	0%
Age
30–39	5	22%
40–49	11	48%
50–59	5	22%
60–69	1	4%
70–79	1	4%
Total	23	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
2018	25
2017	23
2016	20
Total	68

Double execution in Arkansas

See also: Capital punishment in Arkansas and List of people executed in Arkansas

On April 24, 2017, Arkansas carried out back-to-back executions. Convicted rapist and murderer Jack Harold Jones, age 52, was pronounced dead at 7:20 pm Monday. Approximately three hours later, convicted rapist and murderer Marcel Williams, age 46, was pronounced dead at 10:33 pm. Jones was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and murder of Mary Phillips (August 18, 1959 – June 6, 1995) and the near-fatal assault of her then-10-year-old daughter, Lacy Phillips (born July 9, 1984), during a botched robbery in Bald Knob, Arkansas. Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and murder of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.

The last double execution in Arkansas was on September 8, 1999.^[31] By conducting the double execution in 2017, Arkansas became the first U.S. state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day in 17 years. The last state to do so was Texas, which executed two murderers in August 2000. Oklahoma planned a double execution in 2014 but scrapped plans for the second one after the first (the execution of Clayton Lockett) went awry.^[32]

Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930.^[32]

See also

• List of death row inmates in the United States
• List of juveniles executed in the United States since 1976
• List of most recent executions by jurisdiction
• List of people scheduled to be executed in the United States
• List of women executed in the United States since 1976

References

1. "Execution List 2017". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
2. "Inmate Information – Christopher Wilkins", Texas Department of Criminal Justice
3. McCann, Erin (January 12, 2017). "Texas Carries Out Nation's First Execution of 2017". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
4. Ansari, Azadeh; Marco, Tony (January 19, 2017). "Virginia executes convicted family killer Ricky Gray". CNN. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
5. "Inmate Information – Terry Edwards", Texas Department of Criminal Justice
6. Dart, Tom (January 27, 2017). "Texas prisoner dies of lethal injection after last-minute appeal fails". The Guardian. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
7. "Missouri man executed for 1998 murder of mother, 2 children". CBS News. January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
8. "Inmate Information – Rolando Ruiz Jr.", Texas Department of Criminal Justice
9. "Remorseful hit man in Texas murder-for-hire slaying executed". CBS News. March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
10. "Inmate Information – James Bigby", Texas Department of Criminal Justice
11. Chiquillo, Julieta (March 14, 2017). "Tarrant County man who killed father and baby in 1987, pointed gun at judge is executed". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
12. Blinder, Alan; Fernandez, Manny (April 21, 2017). "Arkansas Puts Ledell Lee to Death, in Its First Execution Since 2005". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
13. "Arkansas executes murderers Jack Jones and Marcel Williams". BBC News. April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
14. Pilkington, Ed; Lartey, Jamiles; Rosenberg, Jacob (April 25, 2017). "Arkansas carries out first double execution in the US for 16 years". The Guardian. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
15. Pilkington, Ed; Rosenberg, Jacob (April 28, 2017). "Fourth and final Arkansas inmate Kenneth Williams executed". The Guardian. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
16. Sharman, Jon (May 18, 2017). "Death row inmate eats 5,500-calorie final meal featuring filet mignon steak wrapped in bacon and fried pork chops". The Independent. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
17. Connor, Tracy (May 25, 2017). "Tommy Arthur, Inmate Who Escaped Death 7 Times, Is Executed". NBC News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
18. Hrynkiw, Ivanaki (June 8, 2017). "Robert Bryant Melson executed for 1994 triple slaying". The Birmingham News. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
19. Freeman, Jr., Vernon; Burkett, Jon (July 6, 2017). "William Morva executed by lethal injection for 2006 killings". WTVR-TV. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
20. Connor, Tracy (July 26, 2017). "Ronald Phillips Executed in Ohio, Ending Three-Year Break". NBC News. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
21. "Inmate Information - Taichin Preyor". Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
22. "Texas executes man who killed woman at her apartment in 2004". CBS News. July 27, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
23. Burch, Audra D.S. (August 24, 2017). "For First Time Since 1970s, White Man Executed for Racial Killings in Florida". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
24. Connor, Tracy (September 13, 2017). "Ohio Executes Double Murderer Gary Otte as He Sings Hymn". NBC News. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
25. Dearen, Jason (October 6, 2017). "Florida executes man convicted of killing 2 decades ago". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
26. Schmidt, Samantha (October 13, 2017). "Texas executes inmate convicted of fatally stabbing a prison guard". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
27. Lyman, Brian (October 19, 2017). "Torrey McNabb's final words for Alabama before execution: 'I hate you'". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
28. "Florida executes Patrick Hannon for killing two men in 1991". Fox News. November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
29. "The Latest: Texas executes Mexican citizen for 1997 slaying". Associated Press. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
30. Blakinger, Keri (November 8, 2017). "Mexican man executed after appeals fail". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
31. "Arkansas executes 2 inmates in one night". WKBW-TV. April 24, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
32. Burke, Liz (April 26, 2017). "Arkansas goes ahead with double execution". News.com.au. Retrieved January 5, 2018.

Preceded by 2016

List of people executed       in the United States in    2017

Succeeded by 2018