Death Penalty News

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 July 2026: State media reported the execution of protesters Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, an Afghan national, in connection to the 8 January protests in Isfahan.  Their executions bring the total number of protesters executed in connection with the January 2026 protests to at least 23. Another January protester, Mohammad Amini Dehaghani, was hanged in Isfahan Central Prison six days ago.  

Earlier, while convicting Chenthamara, the court had asked whether he wished to say anything before sentencing. He initially replied that he had "nothing to say." PALAKKAD: In a significant judgment, the Additional District and Sessions Court-IV, Palakkad, on Monday sentenced Chenthamara (62) to death for the brutal double murder of his neighbours Sudhakaran and his 75-year-old mother Lakshmi at Boyan Unnathi in Pothundy, Nenmara in 2025. In addition to the death penalty, the court imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh and ordered that this amount be paid as compensation to the victims' family.

OSWIECIM, Poland — The SS carried out the largest public hanging in Auschwitz history on July 19, 1943, executing 12 Polish prisoners before other inmates as collective punishment for escapes and civilian contacts. The victims, all from the camp’s surveyors’ labor unit, were hanged on gallows built in front of the camp kitchen during an Auschwitz I roll call. The SS orchestrated this reprisal following prisoner escapes from the surveyors’ detail and unauthorized communication between inmates and civilians. Camp authorities used the recent escapes as a pretext to impose collective punishment.

HOLLYWOOD HILLS—David Anthony Burke, known by his stage name D4VD, is eligible to receive both life in prison and the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.  Burke is facing first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14, and mutilating a body. The special circumstances include lying in wait for the victim, committing the crime for financial gain, and murdering a witness in an investigation.

The number of death sentences handed out by juries has plunged by more than 90% since the 1990s. On July 8, the Death Penalty Information Center, or DPIC, released its midyear update on capital punishment in the United States. Many of the findings were sadly, disturbingly familiar. For example, racial bias still plays a large role in who gets executed, and the Supreme Court continues to allow executions to proceed even when those being put to death have strong claims of innocence. But there was also encouraging news.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 17 July 2026: Following yesterday’s execution of Parvin Chardoli at Ghezel Hesar Prison, the number of women executed in Iran since 2010 has reached at least 300. The Islamic Republic of Iran carries out the highest recorded execution of women worldwide while enforcing a system of gender apartheid. In 2025, IHRNGO recorded 48 executions, the highest number since the execution of women began being systematically recorded more than twenty years ago. In 2026, at least eleven women have been executed.

A formal complaint has been filed with the Tennessee Department of Health regarding the conduct of a physician involved in the failed execution of death row inmate Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026. The complaint, submitted by Carruthers’ sister, Tonya Hervey on July 15, alleges that Dr. Mark Walton Fowler engaged in unethical medical practices during the aborted procedure. The state’s attempt to execute Carruthers was halted after execution team members spent over an hour unsuccessfully attempting to establish a backup intravenous (IV) line. While a primary line was established, the team’s failure to secure the secondary access required by state protocol led Governor Bill Lee to grant a one-year reprieve.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 16 July 2026: Aref Khoshkar, a “Woman, Life, Freedom” protester, a woman named Parvin Chardoli, Abbas Nesari and two unidentified men were executed for murder charges in Ghezel Hesar Prison. The mass hunger strike by Unit 2 of the prison continued for the third day. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five people were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on 15 July 2026. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. The identities of three have been established as Aref Khoshkar, Parvin Chardoli and Abbas Nesari.

Riyadh (AsiaNews) – The Saudi authorities have granted a royal amnesty to around 2,000 Ethiopian prisoners who have been held in the country’s jails for some time. The news was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa in a statement, which added that, following the decree issued by the authorities in Riyadh, Ethiopian officials have already begun the repatriation of the 1,971 compatriots who had been held in prison until now. However, whilst this news is being received with satisfaction and hope, the dramatic situation—both human and legal—of the many Ethiopian migrants detained on death row in Saudi Arabia remains unresolved, as they await the carrying out of the death penalty amidst suffering and false hopes.

Iranian authorities executed a Kurdish man convicted on drug-related charges at Tabriz Central Prison. His execution comes one month after the death of his wife, leaving their 12-year-old child without either parent. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Salman Kakehkhani, a Kurdish prisoner from Baneh, was executed at dawn on July 14, 2026, at Tabriz Central Prison. Sources familiar with the case said Kakehkhani was arrested in 2023 by law enforcement authorities on charges related to the transportation and possession of narcotics. He was later sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 15 July 2026: State media reported the execution of Mohammad Amini Dehaghani in connection to the January 2026 protests at an undisclosed location. No independent information is available about his case. Mohammad is the 21st protester to be executed in relation to the protests since 19 March. Condemning Mohammad’s execution in the strongest terms, IHRNGO warns about the further escalation of executions in the coming weeks.

Federal prosecutors say Clarence A. Frazier Jr. barricaded himself inside his home before allegedly opening fire on federal officers A Louisiana man has been charged with murder after allegedly killing a deputy U.S. marshal who was shot while serving an arrest warrant, federal officials announced Tuesday. Multiple law enforcement officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant related to a prior sexual battery charge when Clarence A. Frazier Jr., 48, of Alexandria, allegedly barricaded himself inside his home and opened fire, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana.

In an unprecedented move in the modern history of capital punishment, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday cleared the way for 2 executions to occur on the same day.  DeSantis reset the execution of James Duckett, whose execution earlier this year was stayed amid efforts to secure DNA testing and analysis of evidence in his case.  Duckett’s execution was reset for July 28. That is the same day previously set for the execution of Dominick Occhicone.  Court records indicate that Duckett’s execution is scheduled for noon. Occhicone’s is set to follow at 6 p.m. 

Man, 74, becomes oldest inmate executed in Florida in state’s 10th lethal injection this year  Florida put to death one of its oldest prisoners in its history on Tuesday, a 74-year-old convicted murderer who was 1 of 3 older inmates scheduled for execution within the span of a month in the nation’s busiest death penalty state.  Dennis Sochor was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. He was convicted of killing a woman on Jan. 1, 1982, just hours after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party. 

An entire category of food is also off-limits for final meal requests in Florida Florida is currently preparing to execute its oldest inmate later today (July 14), a 74-year-old convicted murderer who has been on death row since the 1980s—but his final meal will be limited by a strict budget. Dennis Sochor is scheduled to be put to death later today, making history as the oldest inmate to ever be executed in the state. The criminal, who has been on death row for nearly 40 years, will be administered the lethal three-drug injection, with the process due to begin at around 6pm.

In an effort to counter rising political dissent, North Korea has toughened its criminal code and imposed the death penalty for crimes against the state, according to South Korean intelligence sources.  Following revisions to the country's criminal code introduced in April, those found guilty of participating in armed uprisings now face life imprisonment or execution. Previously, they faced 10 years in a labour camp. 

The death penalty would not solve Fiji’s drug problem.  Former chief justice Daniel Fatiaki shared this yesterday while responding to calls for capital punishment for drug offenders, arguing that addiction should be treated as a health issue rather than punished as a crime.  Mr. Fatiaki said countries that impose the death penalty for drug crimes have not provided a model Fiji should follow.  “We (Fiji) used to have the death penalty. George Speight will tell you he got a death sentence given to him,” Mr. Fatiaki said.  He also said his opposition to the death penalty was rooted in his Christian faith, saying he believed the taking of life should not be left to people.  “But I’m Christian, and I believe in the Ten Commandments, and one of them says, Thou shalt not kill. And that’s all there is to it.”  Mr. Fatiaki said taking a person’s life was not the answer to addressing the country’s growing drug crisis and instead urged greater investment in rehabilita...

Iranian authorities have secretly executed Jabbar Khadem and Hosseinali Zamani, convicted on drug-related charges, at Shiraz Central Prison, also known as Adelabad Prison. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Hosseinali Zamani and Jabbar Khadem were executed at dawn on July 7, 2026, at Shiraz Central Prison. Both men had previously been transferred from Pirbanoo Prison to Adelabad Prison ahead of their executions. Sources familiar with the case said prison officials carried out the executions without prior notice to the men’s families, depriving them of the opportunity for a final visit.

Three years after the rape and murder of a US tourist near Neuschwanstein Castle, the convicted man, also from the United States, is contesting his extradition from Germany. The 33-year-old pushed two young women down a slope of around 50 metres during a visit to the world-famous castle. A 21-year-old later died in hospital and her friend was injured. The man raped and strangled the 21-year-old before pushing her over the edge. Kempten Regional Court sentenced him to life in prison for murder, attempted murder and rape resulting in death. The foreigners' office in the area then issued a deportation order against the convicted murderer.

MIAMI – The last prisoner strapped to a table in Florida’s death chamber was 74 years old—the oldest the state has executed in modern times. The next two set to die are older still. The series of executions, due to be carried out by the end of this month, highlights the nation’s aging death-row population. One of Florida's prisoners scheduled to die in July, a man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend's parents in 1986, is 80 years old and would be only the second known octogenarian to be executed in the U.S.

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – Days after Idaho made the switch to a firing squad for executions, two Idaho death row prisoners next in line to be put to death sued the state prison system, saying its director withheld information about how she settled on the specifics for carrying out the method. Attorneys for prisoners Thomas Creech and Gerald Pizzuto filed suit this week in state district court against Idaho Department of Correction Director Bree Derrick. In the filing, they called her approval of an updated standard operating procedure for the firing squad and lethal injection as a backup method “arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion and in excess of the statutory authority of the agency.”

Iranian authorities executed Hossein Vahidpour and Farshad Pahlavani, convicted of murder in a joint case, at Semnan Central Prison last month. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Hossein Vahidpour, 24, and Farshad Pahlavani, 26, were executed at dawn on June 16, 2026, at Semnan Central Prison. Sources familiar with the case said Vahidpour and Pahlavani were arrested about five years ago and accused of killing a friend, identified only as Alireza, in what was described as an honor-related killing.

Dennis Michael Sochor is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday, the 29th person executed by the state in the past 19 months. Dennis Michael Sochor, convicted of strangling an 18-year-old woman he met at a New Year’s celebration in a Broward County bar 44 years ago, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison. His last wish? To have Gov. Ron DeSantis personally observe his execution up close and personal.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for the Pasco County execution of Dominick Occhicone, scheduled for July 28. Defense attorneys argue the 80-year-old double-murderer is too old and frail to be executed under the 8th Amendment. HOLIDAY, Fla. - Dominick Occhicone is scheduled to face execution on July 28 for the 1986 cold-blooded murders of his ex-girlfriend's parents in Pasco County, sparking an intense legal battle over his advanced age and failing health. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Dominick Occhicone, who has spent nearly 40 years on death row, according to state records. The man is about to turn 81 and was convicted of killing Raymond and Martha Artzner at their home in Holiday. The warrant comes shortly after the state executed 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer last week. If the scheduled July 14 execution of 74-year-old Dennis Sochor proceeds, he will surpass Spencer as the oldest inmate executed in Florida since 1976. Court records show that Occhicone wen...

A Dead Woman’s Sentence Is Commuted to Life in Prison. Justice or Farce? On July 8, England’s Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, David Lammy, informed his colleagues in the House of Commons that King Charles had granted a conditional pardon to a woman who was executed on July 13, 1955. The beneficiary of the King’s posthumous mercy was Ruth Ellis, who, as a report in the Guardian notes , “was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom.”

New legislation creates ‘Capitol Sexual Battery’ charge, effective July 1 MISSISSIPPI (WLBT)—Mississippi's most severe criminal punishment now applies to the most severe crimes against children, under a new state law that took effect July 1. Senate Bill 2821 creates a charge called Capitol Sexual Battery, which is punishable by the death penalty. The law applies only to cases occurring on or after July 1. Under the new law, sexual battery against a child under the age of 12 or an attempt to commit such an act that injures the child’s sexual organs, makes a defendant eligible for the death penalty.

Like Gov. Mike DeWine, most agreed the death penalty is broken and does not deter crime, but not always with the same reasoning. Some people on Ohio’s death row praised Gov. Mike DeWine for having the courage to come out against the death penalty. Others said actions speak louder than words, and they want the governor to commute their death sentences to life without the possibility of parole. But all agreed with the governor on one thing: Ohio’s death penalty law is broken. DeWine said long delays in carrying out executions undermine its intended function as a deterrent. Condemned prisoners resoundingly said that the possibility of being executed never stopped anyone from committing murder.

Six states have already enacted legislation making child rapists eligible for execution As reports of sex crimes against children continue to rise across the state—including within government schools—Texans are recommending harsher penalties for child sexual predators. Some are ready to consider the harshest penalty for the worst offenders: death. Six states have already enacted laws making child rapists eligible for the death penalty in certain circumstances: Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Twelve protesters in Isfahan face imminent execution after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld death sentences in a case built around the alleged killing of four Basij members, a lawyer familiar with the case told Iran International. The case stems from protests on January 8 at Alikhani Square in Isfahan, where authorities said four Basij members were killed. According to the lawyer, 59 people were initially arrested after the incident. The lawyer said 23 of those detained were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison, even though they were not accused of directly taking part in the deaths and appeared to have been added to the case to strengthen the prosecution’s broader narrative.

(Lake County, FL) Today, State Attorney Bill Gladson of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, alongside Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell, announces the grand jury indictment of 44-year-old Shahidul Islam. A grand jury was convened earlier today to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to charge Shahidul Islam. The grand jury returned a true bill of indictment for Premeditated First-Degree Murder with a Firearm, F.S.S. 782.04(1)(a)1, 775.087(1), 775.087(2)(a)1, 775.087(2)(a)2, and 775.087(2)(a)3.

Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, has been granted a posthumous conditional pardon. Ellis was hanged at London's Holloway Prison in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover David Blakely. Her family have campaigned for her murder conviction to be overturned, arguing she was a victim of domestic abuse and was physically and emotionally abused by Blakely before shooting him. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told MPs the King had granted the pardon, saying that the death penalty had been replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment.

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York—name a Northeastern state, and you will be naming a place where there is no death penalty. New Hampshire was the latest to join the list in 2019.  But there is one glaring omission.  Pennsylvania. In the Keystone State, capital punishment is legal, even though no one has been executed there since 1999. The state exists in a kind of death penalty limbo, not abolishing it but unable or unwilling to carry out death sentences.  Recent polls suggest that the residents of Pennsylvania are ready to break the logjam. 58% now favor a life sentence rather than the death penalty for people convicted of murder. 

Andrea Shaw is accused of suffocating her 18-month-old twins in May 2025.  An Idaho woman who said her toddler twins died last year after being vaccinated faces murder charges connected to their deaths, authorities said.   A grand jury indicted Andrea Shaw, who is accused of suffocating her 18-month-old twins in May 2025, on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder on June 29, according to court records and a statement from the Payette Police Department. 

It has been nearly 40 years since my mother, Marguerite, was murdered in a small town near Houston. It has been almost 19 years since the man who murdered her was executed. His death did not heal my pain — I still miss my mother every day — and it did not feel like “justice.” Instead, my personal experience with the death penalty left me firmly convinced that it is both a false promise to the families of murder victims and a failed public policy. That is why, as a current Kansas resident, I urge Gov. Laura Kelly to commute the death sentences of the nine men on Kansas’ death row to life without parole.

In 2008, a majority of the Supreme Court decided that executing a man who raped his eight-year-old stepdaughter so violently that she required emergency surgery violated the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. That’s the holding of Kennedy v. Louisiana , 554 U.S. 407. Four justices disagreed. Sixteen years later, multiple states have passed laws saying the majority was wrong, and they intend to prove it.

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Attorneys told a judge Tuesday they are ready to go forward with a multi-day hearing later this month for singer D4vd, who is charged with murdering a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of his Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard. During the hearing set to begin July 21, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo will determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against the 21-year-old singer—whose real name is David Anthony Burke—to proceed to trial. One of Burke's attorneys, Blair Berk, indicated Tuesday the defense would be ready for the upcoming hearing, following a series of requested postponements.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee is standing by Tennessee’s protocol for lethal injection following the botched execution of Tony Carruthers. In May, Carruthers’ execution was called off after medical personnel failed to find a vein for lethal injection. At the time, they said the first vein was found quickly, but that they could not establish a backup line as required by the state’s lethal injection protocol. The governor intervened, granting a one-year reprieve. 6 News asked Lee about it, and he chalked up what happened as a fluke, stating that it should not happen again.

On July 26, 2008, 56 people died, and more than 200 people were injured after 21 explosions rocked Ahmedabad within a span of 70 minutes. The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentences of 38 convicts and life imprisonment awarded to 11 others in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, affirming the verdict of a special court that had convicted members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). A division bench of Justices A.Y. Kogje and Samir Dave dismissed all appeals filed by the convicts against the 2022 special court judgment, thereby confirming the sentences.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Gov. Mike Braun said the future of the death penalty will be up to state lawmakers.  “It’s not an easy conversation,” Gov. Braun said during a July 2 news conference when asked about the future of Indiana’s death penalty.  There are five men on Indiana’s death row. The Attorney General’s Office is currently requesting an execution date for Jeffrey Weisheit, a death row inmate convicted of murdering two young children in 2010.  The state has put three men to death over the last 18 months since it resumed executions under former Gov. Eric Holcomb. All by lethal injection.

Indiana law says that the press has no right to be present when the state carries out executions. It limits those who can attend to the warden of the prison where the execution is carried out, immediate family members of the crime victim, no more than five friends or relatives of the convicted person, the prison physician, and the prison chaplain. Only if an inmate selects a member of the press as one of the five friends may they attend.