Executions Overview

1595 men and women have been executed in the United States since the 1970 s, although executions have declined significantly over the past two decades. Most executions have been concentrated in a few states and a small number of outlier counties.

DPIC Database: Execution Database

List of all defendants executed in the United States after 1976. Includes data such as sex, race, race of victims, and method of execution

Upcoming Executions

Upcoming executions, stays of execution, and outcomes of death warrants

Executions in 2024

List of executions carried out in 2024. (For previous years, please see sidebar)

Outcomes of Death Warrants 2024

Outcomes of death warrants, such as stays, reprieves, and reschedules

News & Developments

Alabama Schedules A Second Execution for Kenneth Smith, Using Nitrogen Gas for the First Time in U.S. History

On November 8 , 2023 , Alabama Governor Kay Ivey sched­uled an exe­cu­tion date for Kenneth Smith, mark­ing the first attempt by a U.S. state to use nitro­gen gas in an exe­cu­tion. Mr. Smith was con­vict­ed of the 1988 mur­der-for-hire death of Elizabeth Sennett in Jefferson County, Alabama and has been on death row for near­ly 34 years. Following the state Supreme Court’s 6 – 2 deci­sion green­light­ing Attorney General Steve Marshall’s request for an exe­cu­tion war­rant, Gov. Ivey set a 32 -hour exe­cu­tion date…

Alabama Attorney General Seeks Execution with Unprecedented, Untested Method Using Nitrogen Hypoxia

On August 25 , 2023 , Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the state Supreme Court to set a date for Kenneth Smith to be exe­cut­ed using nitro­gen hypox­ia, a method that has nev­er been used in any state. The deci­sion to use this method comes after Alabama botched sev­er­al exe­cu­tions. Since 2018 , when Alabama ini­tial­ly autho­rized the use of nitro­gen hypox­ia in cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, the state has been work­ing to estab­lish a pro­to­col for exe­cu­tions using this method. Alabama initially…

Death-Sentenced Prisoner Aubrey Trail Waives Appeals and Petitions Nebraska for Execution Date Despite Unavailability of Lethal Injection Drugs

On August 8 , 2023 , death-sen­tenced pris­on­er Aubrey Trail peti­tioned the state to set his exe­cu­tion date. Currently, there are 10 oth­ers on death row in Nebraska, but the state does not pos­sess the nec­es­sary lethal injec­tion drugs for any exe­cu­tions. Nebraska has not exe­cut­ed any­one in more than five years. The last per­son exe­cut­ed was Carey Dean Moore in 2018 via lethal injec­tion. Mr. Trail con­fessed to the 2017 killing of Sydney Loofe and was sen­tenced to death by a three-judge pan­el in…

Judge Orders Hearing for Idaho Prisoner Who Faced 5 Execution Dates, Claims of Repeated ​ ‘ Psychological Torture’

Idaho U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill has ruled in favor of death row pris­on­er Gerald Pizzuto, indef­i­nite­ly paus­ing his March 2023 exe­cu­tion date, and grant­i­ng him a hear­ing in his claim that the state of Idaho vio­lates his Constitutional right against cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment by repeat­ed­ly sched­ul­ing exe­cu­tion dates while know­ing the state does not have the means to car­ry it out. ​ “ As Pizzuto describes it,” Judge Winmill wrote, ​ “ defen­dants’ repeat­ed resched­ul­ing of his exe­cu­tion is…

8 th Circuit Lift Stay of Execution for Death-Sentenced Missouri Prisoner with Schizophrenia

On July 29 , 2023 , the 8 th Circuit Court of Appeals lift­ed a tem­po­rary stay of exe­cu­tion that had been issued for Johnny Johnson, a death-sen­tenced pris­on­er in Missouri. Mr. Johnson’s attor­neys allege that he is insane and there­fore inel­i­gi­ble for exe­cu­tion. Barring a last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Johnson will be exe­cut­ed by lethal injec­tion on August 1 , 2023 , for the 2002 killing of 6 ‑year-old Casey…