What methods of execution on death row are still practiced in Mississippi? The US?
As the execution date for a Mississippi death row inmate draws near, it's raised questions about which states still have the death penalty and what execution methods are still in use in the United States.
David Neal Cox Sr. is scheduled to be executed Wednesday at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman — the state's first execution since 2012.
Cox pleaded guilty in 2012 to killing his wife, 40-year-old Kim Kirk Cox, in May 2010 in the northern Mississippi town of Sherman.
While lethal injection remains the primary method of execution for the federal government and the states where the death penalty remains active, there are alternate methods that have been used within the last decade or so.
Here are some facts about what methods each state allows.
ORGAN DONATION: Can a death row inmate donate their organs? Here's what some experts say on the subject
What are the execution methods by state?
Twenty-seven states, as well as the federal government and U.S. military, currently have death penalty measures on the books, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization representing the legislatures in the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States.
Of the 27 states, three currently have gubernatorial moratoriums including California, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
HISTORY: Executions in Mississippi: A brief history of hanging, electric chair and more
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the primary means of execution in states where it's legal. They are:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Electric Chair
The electric chair is an alternative method of execution in seven states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
Lethal gas
The gas chamber is an alternative method of execution in seven states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.
Firing squad
The firing squad is an alternative method of execution in three states: Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah.
South Carolina is the only state in which electrocution is the primary method of execution after departing from lethal injection as the primary method in 2021, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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When was the electric chair last used in an execution?
Stephen Michael West was the last death row inmate to be executed by electric chair in Tennessee on Aug. 15, 2019. He was the third death row inmate to be executed by electric chair in less than a year.
West was sentenced for the 1986 stabbing deaths of Wanda Romines, 51, and her 15-year-old daughter, Sheila Romines, in their East Tennessee home. He was also convicted for raping Sheila.
Before that, Virginia death row inmate, Robert C. Gleason Jr., chose the electric chair over lethal injection and was put to death on Jan. 16, 2013.
Gleason was sentenced to death for two separate murders of two of his cellmates while he was serving a life sentence for another murder conviction.
Local media reports stated Gleason died "with fists partially clenched and smoke rising from his body."
When was a firing squad last used in an execution?
Ronnie Lee Gardner, a Utah inmate convicted in a 1985 murder, was executed by firing squad on June 18, 2010.
At the time, he was the first man to die by firing squad in Utah in 14 years, reported ABC News. He chose the method over lethal injection.
What happens after: Mississippi to have first execution since 2012. What happens to the person's body after?
When was the gas chamber last used in an execution?
Walter LaGrand was the last death row inmate executed by lethal gas, in Arizona on March 3, 1999, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
LaGrand chose the gas chamber as his method of execution following his conviction in the 1984 stabbing death of a bank manager.
In Mississippi, Leo Edwards was the last death row inmate to be executed by lethal gas on June 21, 1989, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections records.
When was hanging last used in an execution?
The last state-sanctioned execution by hanging was carried out on Jan. 25, 1996, in Delaware.
Inmate Billy Bailey refused lethal injection as a form of execution and chose to go with his original sentence of death by hanging for the 1979 murders of Gilbert and Clara Lambertson.
Bailey's execution was only the third by hanging in the United States since 1965, reported the Washington Post.
Opinion: Mississippi's death row population getting a longer lease on life. Here's why.
Which states don't have the death penalty?
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia currently do not have the death penalty.
Alaska
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
District of Columbia
Source: NCSL, National Conference of State Legislatures, https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/death-penalty.aspx
The Tennessean staff contributed to this report.
Have a news tip? Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, on Twitter or at 601-215-4292.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Executions in Mississippi: Lethal injection, electric chair, firing squad
