Arizona executes – Arizona executed Leroy McGill, 63, by lethal injection on Wednesday, May 20, for the 2002 murder of Charles Perez, after McGill set Perez and his girlfriend on fire with gasoline. Perez died the next day; the girlfriend survived with severe burns. McGill’s exe
Arizona’s execution chamber kept moving long after the last court filing was done. On Wednesday, May 20, Leroy McGill, 63, was put to death by lethal injection for a 2002 attack that prosecutors said was carried out by pouring gasoline and setting a couple on fire.
McGill was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m. PT. In brief last words from the death chamber, he said, “I’m going home soon,” according to multiple news media members who witnessed the execution.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement that after more than two decades. “justice was finally served for Charles Perez and the woman who survived this horrific attack.” She described what happened as “pouring gasoline on the victims and setting them on fire. ” calling it “among the cruelest acts imaginable.” Mitchell added that her “thoughts are with the family of Charles Perez and the survivor. who has lived with the physical and emotional scars of that night for nearly 24 years. ” and said. “May this bring them some measure of peace.”.
The execution was Arizona’s first in 2026 and the 13th execution in the U.S. this year. Two more executions are scheduled this week in Tennessee and Florida.
McGill was convicted for the July 13, 2002 murder of Charles Perez and an attack on Perez’s girlfriend, Nova Banta, court records show. On that day, McGill walked into the Phoenix apartment of Perez, 21, and Banta, 24. Prosecutors said he threw a cup of gasoline and set them on fire with a match.
Court records say prosecutors also alleged that McGill mixed Styrofoam with gasoline to create a “napalm-like substance that would stick to his victims and cause them more pain.” McGill’s attorneys deny that allegation.
The prosecution’s account ties the violence to an accusation. McGill attacked Perez and Banta because the couple had accused him of stealing a shotgun. Before he lit the match, court records say McGill told the couple that they shouldn’t talk about people behind their backs.
Perez died of his injuries the day after the attack. Banta survived, but court records say severe burns covered 75% of her body.
In the months leading up to his execution, McGill had been fighting to have the sentence stopped, with arguments centered largely on what his lawyers said were errors by his trial attorneys. Those efforts failed. He declined to file a clemency petition with the state.
The final meal McGill requested included cottage pie, green salad, onion rings, bread and butter, and chocolate cake.
Through the sequence of facts—gasoline poured after an accusation. Perez’s death the next day. and Banta’s 75% body burns—the case rests on how a night of accusation was turned into permanent damage. After nearly 24 years. the legal process reached its last step with an execution scheduled in the same tight window where other states are also carrying out death sentences.
This week’s executions are part of a broader pattern of clustered dates across the U.S., and it’s not unusual for multiple states to carry out executions during the same week or even on the same day. Experts cited in reporting say states’ timing and scheduling are coincidental.
Arizona’s execution was one of three planned during a two-day period. On Thursday. May 21. Tennessee plans to put Tony Carruthers to death for the 1994 killing of three people at a cemetery. including a woman who was buried alive. Also on Thursday. Florida is scheduled to execute Richard Knight for the 2000 stabbing deaths of a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old daughter.
So far this year, states have executed 12 inmates. The executions of McGill, Carruthers, and Knight will make that 15. Another nine executions are scheduled for the rest of the year so far, though that figure is expected to increase because states can issue death warrants at any time.
Last year, there were 47 executions in the U.S., making it the deadliest year for death row inmates since 2009. Executions this year are running slightly behind the amount conducted during the same time period last year.
Arizona Leroy McGill lethal injection death penalty Charles Perez Nova Banta Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell Tony Carruthers Richard Knight executions 2026 U.S. death row