Death Penalty News

OCALA, Fla. — State prosecutors announced Thursday they will seek the death penalty against a Citra man accused of the 2024 killing of a 3-year-old child, following the filing of a new capital charge. Jeroen Coombs, 37, appeared in a Marion County courtroom where the state formalized its intent to pursue the execution of the defendant. The notice of intent follows a grand jury indictment that now includes sexual battery on a child under the age of 12.  Coombs was already facing counts of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in connection with the toddler's death. Court records do not explicitly state whether the supplemental sexual battery charge involves the deceased victim or a separate individual. Under Florida’s current capital sentencing statutes, the presence of certain aggravating factors—including the age of the victim and the commission of a felony such as sexual battery during a homicide—allows the state to seek the highest penalty under the law. The case has mo...

Erbil, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Thursday executed another prisoner, citing alleged ties to Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, as well as to an exiled opposition group, a media affiliate of the Iranian judiciary reported. This comes as Tehran has in recent weeks executed more than a dozen detainees, including individuals arrested during nationwide anti-government protests in January. Mizan Online relayed that Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr was hanged after he “was convicted on charges of moharebeh [waging war against God] through membership in the terrorist [Mojahedin Khalq Organization] MKO/MEK group.”

Judges reject a challenge that argued it was cruel and degrading Malaysia's top court has ruled that the use of caning as a form of punishment is constitutional, while dismissing a plea from prisoners seeking relief from the punishment imposed on them. In a 2-1 majority decision, the Malaysian Federal Court ruled that the use of whipping or caning did not fall within the ambit of a cruel, oppressive and degrading punishment in the constitutional sense, Bernama reported on April 22. It is not the function of the court to act as a moral arbiter or a 'super-legislature' in the guise of constitutional interpretation, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, one of the judges, said.

Prior to Wednesday’s execution some 16 political prisoners were executed in a month, including eight from the PMOI. An Iranian opposition leader criticised European countries on Wednesday for doing too little to halt executions in Iran, after Tehran carried out another execution in what opponents say is a wartime crackdown on dissent. The judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reported on Wednesday that a man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service and passing sensitive information had been executed.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)—The State Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty against a woman who is accused of killing her ex-lovers. Susan Avalon, 55, was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her 55-year-old ex-boyfriend in Tampa. Avalon is also accused of killing her ex-husband, David Scott in Manatee County on the same day, the State Attorney’s Office said. “He was very caring, very kind. He was extremely funny,” said Julia Scott, David’s daughter. “He was really like a rock for us. I miss being able to go to him and tell him stuff that’s happening because he always was really supportive.”

US musician D4vd has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder in the death of a teenage girl who vanished last year. The singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose remains were found in September in a Tesla registered to his Texas address. Burke, 21, also was charged with murder for "financial gain" and with murder of a witness to an investigation, the Los Angeles district attorney said. He did not speak during his arraignment on Monday – his first court appearance since his arrest last week. His lawyers entered his plea on his behalf.

A 25-year-old Portuguese national was arrested at Changi Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle approximately 36.3kg of cannabis into Singapore. The arrest occurred on April 14, 2026, though details were released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on April 22. The suspect arrived at Changi Airport on April 14 and was scheduled to depart the following day. His passage through the Terminal 2 Baggage South Red/Green Channel triggered a secondary inspection. K-9 officers from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) assisted in the operation, leading to the discovery of 68 packets of controlled drugs concealed within his luggage.

STARKE, Fla. -- A Florida man who set his neighbor on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarizing her home was executed Tuesday evening. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. It was Florida's fifth execution this year. The curtain to the execution chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6 p.m. time, and the lethal injection got underway two minutes later, after Willacy made a brief statement.

Chadwick Willacy, 58, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. This would be Florida’s fifth execution in 2026 following a record 19 executions last year. A man who set his Brevard County neighbor on fire after she found him burglarizing her home during her lunch break from work is set to be executed Tuesday evening at the Florida State Prison. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. Willacy was sentenced to death a year later upon a 9-3 jury recommendation after being convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and arson.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 21 April 2026: State media reported the execution of Amir Ali Mir Jafari, a protester arrested in relation to the January 2026 protests in Tehran. He was accused of setting fire to the Gholhak Jame Mosque and attacking officers while carrying a cold weapon. Yesterday, following the executions of two political prisoners, IHRNGO once again warned of further executions of political prisoners and protesters in the coming days and weeks. Hundreds of protesters are currently facing death penalty charges, with at least 30 having already been sentenced to death. IHRNGO reiterates that a complete halt to all executions must be a central demand in any negotiations or agreements with the Islamic Republic.

LOS ANGELES —Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that musician David Anthony Burke, professionally known as "d4vd," has been charged with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste R. The victim’s decomposed and dismembered remains were discovered in Burke's impounded vehicle in September 2025. “Celeste was just a child when David Burke allegedly engaged in repeated lewd and lascivious sexual relations with her,” Hochman said. “But Burke’s actions did not allegedly stop there. When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, dismembered her body, and placed the remains in two bags in the front trunk of his car.”

Jerome Anderson shot and killed Antoine Melvin, 42, John Burch, 65, and Patrick Lassiter, 35, in 2023. A man pleaded no contest to a triple-murder in Daytona Beach and was sentenced April 20 to three consecutive life terms in prison as part of a plea deal in which he avoided a possible death sentence. Jerome Anderson, 41, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the 2023 triple-slaying. Anderson pleaded no contest to the three first-degree murder charges April 20 and, in exchange, Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak agreed not to continue to pursue the death penalty.

Tanner Horner apologised to Athena Strand's loved ones for 'taking their little angel away' in a two-page letter Athena Strand's killer penned a letter to her family apologising for 'taking their little angel away' - before chillingly claiming he 'wasn't the only one involved' in another addressed to investigators. Tanner Horner, 34, confessed to abducting and murdering the seven-year-old on 30 November, 2022, after delivering a parcel to her dad's home in Paradise, Texas. Jurors - who were left in tears after listening to distressing audio of the little girl's final moments last week - must now decide if the former FedEx driver should face the death penalty or life in prison.

During the last 10 years, the number of death row inmates from Brevard county dropped from 12 down to three and soon it will likely be two. Chadwick Willacy, formerly of Palm Bay and who has spent 36 years on death row for the murder of his 58-year-old neighbor Marlys Sather, is set to be executed by lethal injection on April 21. Willacy is 56. Gov. Ron DeSantis has been setting records trying to clear as much of the death row roster as possible ― in 2025, Florida executed 19 inmates, more than twice the number of the previous high of eight in 2014. But the dwindling roster of Brevard death row inmates can also be traced to a misinterpretation by the Florida Supreme Court of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2016 requiring unanimous jury recommendations regarding the death penalty.

DPN — Iranian authorities executed two men at dawn Monday on charges of espionage and cooperation with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, the judiciary’s official news outlet reported. The men, identified by the Mizan news agency as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi, were hanged following convictions for " moharebeh " — or waging war against God — and collaboration with "the Zionist regime." The executions were carried out after the country’s Supreme Court upheld their death sentences.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Attorneys for death row inmate Tony Carruthers filed a motion in Shelby County Criminal Court seeking immediate DNA testing on evidence they claim will prove his innocence in a 1994 triple murder.  Carruthers is scheduled for execution on May 12. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murders of 24-year-old Marcellos Anderson, 17-year-old Delois Anderson, and 21-year-old Frederick Scarborough. Prosecutors at trial alleged the victims were buried alive in a Memphis cemetery as part of a drug-related robbery.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the convictions and death sentences of Joseph Zieler for the 1990 murders of an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter, clearing the way for his execution after decades of the case remaining unsolved. Zieler, 61, was sentenced to death in 2023 for the slayings of Robin Cornell and Lisa Story. The decision by the state’s highest court marks a pivotal moment in one of Southwest Florida’s most notorious cold cases, which saw no progress until a 2016 DNA match linked Zieler to the crime scene.

Bita Hemmati and three others have been sentenced to death for 'collusion' and 'propaganda.' Advocates claim the charges are baseless, citing a secretive process and state-televised interrogations. Iranian authorities are preparing to execute Bita Hemmati, the first woman sentenced to death in connection with the mass protests in Tehran in late December and January, according to the US-based non-profit the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Judge Iman Afshari, of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, sentenced Hemmati, her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi Asl, and Behrouz Zamaninezhad, and Kourosh Zamaninezhad to death on the charge of “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups,” in addition to discretionary imprisonment period of five years on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.”  

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 15 April 2026: Mohammad Nourani Gargari, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Ardabil Central Prison. Simultaneously, a woman named Mona Shojaei was saved from execution and released from prison after nine years, having obtained the consent of the victim's next of kin. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Ardabil Central Prison on 1 March 2026. His identity has been established as Mahmoud Nourani Gargari, a 31-year-old father to a young child. The Ardabil native was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.