A look at where things stand with US executions in 2025
FILE-Image of a Texas death chamber in Huntsville, TX. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers/Getty Images)
In the U.S., six men have died via court-ordered execution so far in 2025, and 14 other individuals are scheduled to be executed in eight states during the remainder of the year.
When was the most recent execution?
Dig deeper:
The most recent U.S. execution occurred on March 14, when Brad Sigmon died by firing squad in South Carolina. The 67-year-old was the second man to be executed in South Carolina this year.
What states are scheduled to hold executions in 2025?
Local perspective:
States scheduled to hold executions for the rest of 2025 are Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, though Ohio’s governor has postponed the execution as their dates got closer, the Associated Press reported.
RELATED: Execution methods in US: From firing squad to nitrogen gas
Texas
Moises Sandoval Mendoza, 41, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on April 23. Mendoza strangled a 20-year-old woman in Collin County in 2004, according to the Associated Press.
Matthew Johnson's execution is scheduled for May 20. In 2012, Johnson took cigarettes, lighters and cash before pouring the bleach on a woman and setting her on fire and walking out. The worker died later at a hospital from her injuries, the Associated Press reported.
RELATED: Firing squad execution planned in South Carolina: Is the method making a return?
Richard Lee Tabler, 46, was executed on Feb. 13 for killing a strip club manager and another man near Killeen in central Texas in 2004.
Steven Lawayne Nelson was executed on Feb. 5. The 37-year-old was convicted of the 2011 killing of a pastor inside a church.
Arizona
Aaron Gunches, 53, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday in what would be Arizona’s first use of the death penalty in over two years, the Associated Press reported. Gunches was convicted in the 2002 shooting death of Ted Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband, near the Phoenix suburb of Mesa.
RELATED: South Carolina inmate chooses firing squad for execution, 1st in US in 15 years
In early March, Gunches passed up a chance to ask for a reprieve from his death sentence. According to the AP, Gunches did not participate in a hearing before the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, which noted on the record that he has waived his right to ask for a sentence commutation or a reprieve.
Oklahoma
Wendell Grissom, 56, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on March 20. Grissom and a co-defendant were convicted of killing a woman and wounding her friend, the Associated Press reported. Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board voted in February to deny recommending clemency for Grissom.
Florida
Edward Thomas James, 63, is scheduled to be executed on March 20. James was convicted of killing a woman and raping and killing her 8-year-old granddaughter in Seminole County in 1993.
Michael Tanzi, 48, is scheduled to be executed April 8. He was convicted of kidnapping a woman in Miami and later strangling her and leaving her body in the Florida Keys.
James Dennis Ford, 64, was put to death on Feb. 13 after being convicted of murdering a couple in 1997 in Charlotte County.
South Carolina
Mikal Mahdi, 41, is scheduled to be executed on April 11 in Columbia, the state Supreme Court. Mahdi shot and killed an off-duty police officer in South Carolina in 2004.
The Associated Press noted that Mahdi is scheduled to become the fifth person executed in the state since the death penalty resumed last fall after a 13-month pause. Mahdi can choose between lethal injection, electrocution or a firing squad.
The court also postponed a potential sixth execution, that of Steven Bixby, who killed two police officers in an Abbeville County land dispute in December 2003. Bixby was scheduled to be executed in May, but the AP reported that a court decided that a judge first needs to determine if he is mentally competent.
Along with Brad Sigmon, who was executed by firing squad on March 14, three other prisoners were executed in South Carolina since September: Freddie Owens on Sept. 20; Richard Moore on Nov. 1; and Marion Bowman Jr. on Jan. 31. All three died by lethal injection.
Alabama
James Osgood will be executed by lethal injection on April 24, Gov. Kay Ivey told the Associated Press. The 55-year-old was convicted of the 2010 killing of Tracy Lynn Brown in Chilton County.
Demetrius Frazier, 52, died by nitrogen gas on Feb. 6 for the 1991 rape and killing of a woman.
Tennessee
Oscar Smith is scheduled to be executed May 22. The 74-year-old was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife and her teenage sons in 1989.
Byron Black, 68, is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 5. Black was convicted in 1989 of three counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her two daughters.
Donald Middlebrooks, 62, is set for execution on Sept. 24. Middlebrooks was convicted of torture and murder in 1987.
Harold Nichols, 64, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 11. Nichols was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in 1988.
Ohio
Ohio has two executions set for later this year, with Timothy Coleman scheduled to die on Oct. 30 and Kareem Jackson scheduled to be executed on Dec. 10.
But the Associated Press reported that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has routinely postponed the executions as their dates approach. DeWine did it in February, when he postponed into 2028 three executions scheduled for June, July and August 2025.
March could have a record number of executions
Why you should care:
If the executions scheduled for March happen, approximately nine people will have been executed in the first three months of 2025, representing the most in a three-month period since 10 people were executed from August 2024 through October 2024, the Associated Press noted, citing records collected by the Death Penalty Information Center.
Additionally, Louisiana was scheduled to execute a man using nitrogen gas on March 18. The AP reported that a judge issued an order Tuesday stopping the execution. Meanwhile, an appeals court issued a stay of execution (a delay in carrying out a court order) Tuesday for a Texas man who was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on March 20.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press, which cites information from the Death Penalty Information Center. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.