List of people executed in South Carolina
The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of South Carolina since capital punishment was resumed in the United States in 1976.
Since the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Gregg v. Georgia, a total of 43 people have been executed in South Carolina. All of the people executed were convicted of murder. Of the 43 people executed, 36 were executed via lethal injection and 7 via electrocution.[1]
List of people executed in South Carolina since 1976
No. | Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Joseph Carl Shaw | White | 29 | M | January 11, 1985 | Richland | Electrocution | Tommy Taylor and Carlotta Hartness | Richard Riley |
2 | James Terry Roach | White | 25 | M | January 10, 1986 | ||||
3 | Ronald Rusty Woomer | White | 35 | M | April 27, 1990[a] | Horry | Della Louis Sellers | Carroll Campbell | |
4 | Donald Henry Gaskins | White | 58 | M | September 6, 1991[b] | Richland | Rudolph Tyner[c] | ||
5 | Sylvester Lewis Adams | Black | 39 | M | August 18, 1995 | York | Lethal injection[d] | Bryan Chambers | David Beasley |
6 | Robert South | White | 51 | M | May 31, 1996 | Lexington | West Columbia Police Officer Daniel Wayne Cogburn[2] | ||
7 | Fred H. Kornahrens III | White | 47 | M | July 19, 1996 | Charleston | Patti Jo Kornahrens, Jason Avant, and Harry Wilkerson | ||
8 | Michael Rian Torrence | White | 35 | M | September 6, 1996 | Lexington | Dennis Lollis, Charles Bush, and Cynthia Williams | ||
9 | Larry Gene Bell | White | 46 | M | October 4, 1996 | Electrocution | Sharon "Shari" Faye Smith and Debra May Helmick | ||
10 | Doyle Cecil Lucas | White | 41 | M | November 15, 1996 | York | Lethal injection | Bill Reyfield and Evelyn Reyfield | |
11 | Frank Middleton Jr. | Black | 33 | M | November 22, 1996 | Charleston | Shirley Mae Mack and Janell M. Garner | ||
12 | Michael Eugene Elkins | White | 41 | M | June 13, 1997 | Jasper | Patricia Whitt | ||
13 | Earl Matthews Jr. | Black | 32 | M | November 7, 1997 | Charleston | Lucia Aimar | ||
14 | John David Arnold Jr. | White | 43 | M | March 6, 1998 | Beaufort | Betty Gardner | ||
15 | John Herman Plath | White | 43 | M | July 10, 1998 | ||||
16 | Sammy Roberts | White | 40 | M | September 25, 1998 | Berkeley | Bill Spain, Kenneth Krause, and Louis Cakley | ||
17 | Larry Gilbert | Black | 43 | M | December 4, 1998 | Lexington | Ralph Stoudemire | ||
18 | J.D. Gleaton | Black | 53 | M | |||||
19 | Louis Joe Truesdale Jr. | Black | 40 | M | December 11, 1998 | Lancaster | Rebecca Ann Eudy | ||
20 | Andrew Lavern Smith[e] | Black | 38 | M | December 18, 1998 | Anderson | Christy Johnson and Corrie Johnson | ||
21 | Ronnie Howard | Black | 40 | M | January 8, 1999 | Greenville | Chinh Thi Nguyen Le | ||
22 | Joseph Ernest Atkins | Native American | 51 | M | January 22, 1999 | Charleston | Karen Patterson and Benjamin F. Atkins | Jim Hodges | |
23 | Leroy Joseph Drayton | Black | 44 | M | November 12, 1999 | Rhonda Darlene Smith | |||
24 | David Rocheville | White | 31 | M | December 3, 1999 | Spartanburg | Alex Hopps and James Todd Green | ||
25 | Kevin Dean Young | Black | 32 | M | November 3, 2000 | Anderson | Dennis Ray Hepler | ||
26 | Richard Charles Johnson | White | 39 | M | May 3, 2002 | Jasper | C. Daniel Swanson and Bruce Kenneth Smalls[f] | ||
27 | Anthony Green | Black | 37 | M | August 23, 2002 | Charleston | Susan Babich | ||
28 | Michael Joseph Passaro | White | 40 | M | September 13, 2002 | Horry | Maggie Passaro | ||
29 | David Clayton Hill | White | 39 | M | March 19, 2004 | Georgetown | Georgetown Police Officer Spencer Guerry[3] | Mark Sanford | |
30 | Jerry Bridwell McWee | White | 51 | M | April 16, 2004 | Aiken | John Perry | ||
31 | Jason Scott Byram | White | 38 | M | April 23, 2004 | Richland | Julie Johnson | ||
32 | James Neil Tucker | White | 47 | M | May 28, 2004 | Calhoun | Electrocution | Rosa Lee Dolly Oakley and Shannon Mellon | |
33 | Richard Longworth | White | 36 | M | April 15, 2005 | Spartanburg | Lethal injection | Alex Hopps and James Todd Green | |
34 | Hastings Arthur Wise | Black | 51 | M | November 4, 2005 | Aiken | 4 murder victims[g] | ||
35 | Shawn Paul Humphries | White | 33 | M | December 2, 2005 | Greenville | Dickie Smith | ||
36 | William Ernest Downs Jr. | White | 39 | M | July 14, 2006 | Aiken | Keenan O'Mailia | ||
37 | Calvin Alphonso Shuler | Black | 40 | M | June 22, 2007 | Dorchester | James Brooks | ||
38 | David Mark Hill | White | 48 | M | June 6, 2008 | Aiken | James Riddle, Josie Curry, and Michael Gregory | ||
39 | James Earl Reed | Black | 49 | M | June 20, 2008 | Charleston | Electrocution | Barbara Lafayette and Joseph Lafayette | |
40 | Joseph Martin Luther Gardner | Black | 38 | M | December 5, 2008 | Dorchester | Lethal injection | Melissa McLauchlin | |
41 | Luke A. Williams | White | 56 | M | February 20, 2009 | Edgefield | Linda Williams and Shaun Williams | ||
42 | Thomas Treshawn Ivey | Black | 34 | M | May 8, 2009 | Orangeburg | Robert Montgomery and Sgt. Tommy Harrison | ||
43 | Jeffrey Brian Motts[4] | White | 36 | M | May 6, 2011 | Greenville | Charles Douglas Martin[h] | Nikki Haley |
Demographics
Race | ||
---|---|---|
White | 26 | 60% |
Black | 16 | 37% |
Native American | 1 | 2% |
Age | ||
20–29 | 2 | 5% |
30–39 | 18 | 42% |
40–49 | 16 | 37% |
50–59 | 7 | 16% |
60–69 | 0 | 0% |
Sex | ||
Male | 43 | 100% |
Date of execution | ||
1976–1979 | 0 | 0% |
1980–1989 | 2 | 5% |
1990–1999 | 22 | 51% |
2000–2009 | 18 | 42% |
2010–2019 | 1 | 2% |
2020–2029 | 0 | 0% |
Method | ||
Lethal injection | 36 | 84% |
Electrocution | 7 | 16% |
Governor (Party) | ||
James B. Edwards (R) | 0 | 0% |
Richard Riley (D) | 2 | 5% |
Carroll A. Campbell Jr. (R) | 2 | 5% |
David Beasley (R) | 17 | 40% |
Jim Hodges (D) | 7 | 16% |
Mark Sanford (R) | 14 | 33% |
Nikki Haley (R) | 1 | 2% |
Henry McMaster (R) | 0 | 0% |
Total | 43 | 100% |
See also
- Capital punishment in South Carolina
- Capital punishment in the United States
- George Stinney, executed in South Carolina in 1944 at the age of 14
Notes
- ^ This was the last execution to be held at Central Correctional Institute in downtown Columbia. The prison complex, on the banks of the Congaree River, has since closed and been demolished.
- ^ This was the first execution conducted at Broad River Correctional Institution, and the last execution in the state when electrocution was mandatory.
- ^ Gaskins killed at least 15 people but was only executed for Tyner's murder.
- ^ Earlier in the year, the General Assembly changed capital punishment rules to allow inmates a choice between lethal injection or electrocution for means of execution.
- ^ Andrew Lavern Smith was the 500th person to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
- ^ Smalls was a South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper.
- ^ The 4 victims were: Charles Griffeth, David Moore, Leonard Filyaw, and Sheryl Wood.
- ^ Motts was previously convicted of murdering Clyde Camby and Etta Osteen.
References
- ^ "Searchable Execution Database". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Franklin, Linda. "Cop killer executed in South Carolina".
- ^ Collins, Jeffrey. "Police killer put to death". Associated Press. Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
- ^ Collins, Jeffrey. "Inmate Jeffrey Motts first to die in SC with new combo of drugs". Associated Press. The Post and Courier.
External links
- South Carolina Department of Corrections Capital Punishment Web Site
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