Death Penalty News

South Korean prosecutors have asked the court to sentence 23-year-old Jang Yun-gi to death. He is accused of murdering 17-year-old schoolgirl Lee Chae-won in the city of Gwangju.  The Gwangju District Court is due to announce its verdict in the case on September 30, Korea Herald reports. Details of the charges According to the prosecution, on May 5, Jang attempted to abduct Lee Chae-won in order to sexually assault her and then fatally stabbed her as she was returning home. 

The signatories plan to submit the petition, which was opened on July 20, to the district court ahead of a hearing on Aug. 31. More than 47,000 people have signed a petition calling for the death penalty for Jang Yun-gi, who allegedly murdered a high schooler in Gwangju, according to a local memorial advocacy group on Tuesday. The online petition, first posted on July 20, has garnered a total of 47,268 signatories as of Monday. The petition was prepared by a group with a name that translates roughly to Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Solidarity and the family of the 16-year-old girl who was killed.

Absent court action, Tony Carruthers is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in Tennessee on May 21, 2026, despite untest­ed DNA evi­dence, an inno­cence claim, and seri­ous men­tal ill­ness con­cerns . On May 18, faith lead­ers, civ­il rights advo­cates and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers marched to the state capi­tol to urge Governor Bill Lee to grant Mr. Carruthers clemen­cy or stay his exe­cu­tion to allow addi­tion­al DNA test­ing, deliv­er­ing a peti­tion with over 130,000 sig­na­tures. Gov. Lee announced on May 19 that he has no plans to inter­vene and stop the exe­cu­tion. Mr. Carruthers’ case has drawn nation­al atten­tion as his sched­uled exe­cu­tion date nears, includ­ing from celebri­ty Kim Kardashian, who urged her 345 mil­lion Instagram fol­low­ers to call Gov. Lee’s office to press for the DNA test­ing, and from Demetrius Minor, the Executive Director of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.

With an execution scheduled in days and growing calls for mercy, a petition with more than 60,000 signatures is urging Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to grant clemency to death row prisoner Sonny Burton, whose case has drawn national attention because he did not personally commit the killing that led to his conviction.  Burton, 75, has spent more than three decades on Alabama’s death row and is scheduled to be executed March 12 at Holman Correctional Facility. Supporters argue his case raises serious questions about fairness under Alabama’s felony murder law. 

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application.  Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Anthony Boyd , set to be executed on Thursday, requested that Gov. Kay Ivey meet with him before carrying out his sentence An Alabama death row inmate scheduled to be executed this week is pleading with Gov. Kay Ivey to meet with him in person before his death, insisting that he is innocent and has never received a fair hearing in court. Anthony Boyd had his plea recorded on Monday night from a prison phone call. During a press conference Tuesday morning, hosted by the nonprofit Execution Intervention Project , his spiritual advisor, Dr. Rev. Jeff Hood, shared his message. 

Nawal Filali, founder of the Aji Nt3awnou Association, told MWN that the petition demands maximum sentences, chemical castration, death penalty, and the removal of any mitigating circumstances for child sexual assaults. Rabat – The Moroccan association “Yallah Nt3awnou” has launched a national petition calling on the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, and Parliament to impose harsher penalties for rape and sexual assault against children, including the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims to submit a draft bill within three months to increase penalties for child abuse, including the possibility of adding the death penalty for abuse resulting in death. MOJ Deputy Minister Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) mentioned the three-month timeline during a public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, which was attended by children's advocacy groups and legal experts. At the hearing, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) law professor Lin Chih-chieh (林志潔) said the law could be changed to allow the death penalty in child abuse cases that result in death.

Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s appeal hearing is set for May 7. He received a last-minute stay of execution on February 19, when the Court of Appeal allowed him to file a review of his case. If his appeal is denied, Pannir could once again face imminent execution. This is the 3rd time he has been at risk.  Pannir, a Malaysian national, was convicted in 2017 of importing 51.84 grams of heroin into Singapore. The trial judge ruled that Pannir only transported the drugs. However, because the prosecution did not issue a certificate of substantive assistance, the court sentenced him to the mandatory death penalty.  Meanwhile, executions in Singapore have continued at an alarming pace. Since October 2024, authorities have hanged 12 men.

Robert would be first person in the U.S. executed based on the discredited shaken baby syndrome hypothesis unless the courts or Gov. Abbott intervenes Robert Roberson is an innocent father with autism who has spent over 20 years on death row in Texas for a crime that never occurred.

Brian Dorsey is a “rare case where those of us who sit in judgment of a man convicted of capital murder got it wrong,” according to a former judge who upheld his death sentence. Brian Dorsey's appointed trial lawyers were paid a flat fee of $12,000 to represent him. Against the advice of another lawyer, they advised Dorsey to plead guilty without a deal from prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table. 

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday denied clemency for Brian Dorsey one day before the inmate's scheduled execution for killing his cousin and her husband nearly two decades ago. The governor's decision is "devastating," said Megan Crane, Dorsey's attorney, in an email. The clemency petition included requests from 72 current and former corrections officers who vouched for Dorsey's rehabilitation while behind bars, as well as support from a former Missouri Supreme Court justice and others.

More than 25,000 people have endorsed a proposal calling for a blanket death penalty for child abusers, after a one-year-old boy died allegedly from abuse while in foster care. The proposal, posted by a person called Lu I-shan (呂易珊) on the government-administered Public Policy Online Participation Network Platform, states that people who abuse children and cause physical harm to them should be subject to heavier criminal punishment, while those whose abuse leads to children’s death should be sentenced to death without exception.

Sixty correctional officers and prison staff say a Missouri man who faces execution in April should be granted clemency.  Brian Dorsey is scheduled to die by lethal injection on April 9. The 51 year old was convicted in the 2006 killing of his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben Bonnie in New Bloomfield, in central Missouri. He has served most of his sentence at Potosi Correctional Center, about 70 miles south of St. Louis.

In a little over three weeks, the State of Alabama intends to strap a mask on the face of Kenny Smith as tight as possible to create an airtight.  Then, prison officials will step back, allow nitrogen to flow into the mask and wait for Smith to be declared dead.  If successful, this new execution procedure known as “nitrogen hypoxia” will become the latest option in a long line of procedures dubbed more humane than the last.  

Tracy Beatty is scheduled to die by lethal injection on November 9th in Huntsville, Texas for the 2003 murder of his mother. This is not Tracy Beatty’s 1st scheduled execution. He was previously scheduled to be executed in 2009, 2015, and 2020. All were stayed. Beatty has been on Texas death row since 2004. At his 1st trial, forensic psychiatrists claimed he was not mentally ill and had a normal intelligence quotient. Currently, lawyers for Tracy Beatty are fighting to stop their client’s scheduled execution because he has a severe mental disability. Executions of the mentally disabled are prohibited under the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On Sept. 19 and 22 of this year, Beatty was examined by 2 medical professionals. In the process, these specialists criticized the fact that despite repeated requests, Beatty’s handcuffs were not removed, preventing them from conducting a full examination. According to Dr. Bhushan Agharkar and Dr. Daniel Martell, Beatty is said to be clearly...

James Coddington, aged 50, is scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma on August 25, 2022. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a 73-year-old friend in 1997.  Following a clemency hearing on August 3, 2022, the state Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Governor Stitt grant James Coddington’s request to commute his death sentence .  24 years old at the time of the crime, James Coddington is said to have long been remorseful for his actions and to have broken the cycle of drug dependence that was the context in which the murder occurred and with which he had struggled during and after a childhood of deprivation, abuse, and exposure to drugs from an early age. TAKE ACTION: • Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on August 25, 2022. • Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them. CONTACT INFORMATION Governor J. Kevin Stitt Office of ...

The authorities of Singapore are poised to resume hangings, after a two-year hiatus linked to pending appeals and the COVID-19 pandemic.  In violation of international law and standards, several people who were sentenced to the mandatory death penalty for drug-related offenses are facing imminent execution, and more executions may follow.  The Supreme Court has been petitioned to halt the executions and there are concerns on the use of the death penalty on those with mental and intellectual disabilities.  The government of Singapore must halt all scheduled executions, commute these sentences, and establish an official moratorium on all executions as a 1st step towards full abolition of the death penalty. TAKE ACTION: Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on April 23, 2022. CONTACT INFORMATION Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong Office of the Prime Minister Orchard Road Istana, Singapore 238823 Email: pmo_hq@pmo.gov.sg ; lee_hsien_loon...

La familia y amigos de Melissa Luci o, condenada a muerte en 2008 por el fallecimiento de su hija en el Condado Cameron, corren contra el reloj para lograr que el gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott , se apiade de ella y le otorgue clemencia. RELATED |  Who Is Melissa Lucio, Facing Execution in Texas Aunque la mujer se supone que sea ejecutada el próximo 27 de abril, su caso ha llamado la atención de activistas, quienes se han unido al reclamo para que no la ejecuten.  Luccio fue condenada en 2008 a la pena de muerte luego de que fuera hallada culpable por el fallecimiento de su hija Mariah, de dos años.  La niña perdió la vida dos días después de caer por las escaleras de su casa. Ahora, el lunes 7 de enero los familiares y amigos de Melissa dieron un paso más en su encomienda de frenar la ejecución al acudir a la oficina del fiscal del Condado Cameron, Luis V. Sáenz, y llevarle su reclamo. Entre los presentes se encontraba la madre de Melissa, quien en su silla de ruedas ...

Singapore, Jan 24 (PTI) -- Indian-origin drug trafficker Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam’s appeal against his execution sentence, which was scheduled to be heard on Monday, has been adjourned indefinitely , according to a media report. Nagaenthran’s new lawyer Violet Netto had applied for the adjournment, The Straits Times newspaper reported on Monday. Nagaenthran, 33, of Indian-origin and Malaysian citizenship, is appealing against a High Court decision denying him permission to start judicial review proceedings to challenge the death sentence. No new hearing date has been fixed, according to The Straits Times report. The hearing was slated to be heard by a five-judge panel comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justices Andrew Phang, Judith Prakash, Belinda Ang and Chao Hick Tin. Nagaenthran has also asked the court to exercise its power to have him assessed by psychiatrists for mental fitness.  Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 with heroin strapped to his thigh. He was convicted...