So far this year, 26 people have been given death penalty in America. Apart from this, the date for execution of 10 more people has been fixed in 7 states in the remaining months of the year. The number surpasses the 25 executions in 2014 and 2018 and is the highest since 2015, when 28 people were sentenced to death.
An interesting thing that has come to light in the case of death penalty is that in all the states where this punishment has been given, except one, the governor is from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.
Florida leads the US in terms of death penalty. The next execution in Florida is scheduled for July 31. A man named Edward J. Zakrzewski will be punished for killing his wife and two young children in 1994. He committed this crime after his wife asked for a divorce. He later surrendered to the police after the case was shown on the TV show ‘Unsolved Mysteries’. 67-year-old Kel Bates will be sentenced on August 19 in Florida. He has been sentenced for kidnapping and murdering a woman, Janet White, in 1982.
Florida recently set a date for its 10th sentencing this year.
Tennessee: Byron Black, 69, will be sentenced on August 5. He was convicted in 1989 of murdering his girlfriend and her two daughters. A decision has been taken to deactivate his heart device before his sentencing. Also to be sentenced on December 11 is Harold Nichols, 64, who was convicted of murdering and raping a woman in 1988.
Alabama: David Lee Roberts’ sentencing has been postponed. He was scheduled to be executed for the murder of a woman in 1992, but his sentencing was postponed to evaluate his mental state. On September 25, 49-year-old Geoffrey T. West will be executed with nitrogen gas. This will be the sixth execution with nitrogen gas in Alabama.
Utah: On September 5, 67-year-old Ralph Leroy Menzies will be executed by firing squad. He was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a woman in 1986. The court approved the sentence despite his dementia.
Indiana: Roy Lee Ward is scheduled to be sentenced on October 10, but the date could change. He was convicted of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in 2001.
Texas: On September 25, 35-year-old Blaine Milam will be sentenced for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter in 2008. On October 16, 58-year-old Robert Roberson will be sentenced for killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002.