USA - Leroy McGill (AZ)

USA - Arizona. Leroy McGill, 63, White, was executed on May 20

May 20, 2026:

May 20, 2026 - Arizona. Leroy McGill, 63, White, was executed on May 20

Arizona executes man who set a man on fire in deadly 2002 attack

An Arizona prisoner convicted of killing another man by throwing gasoline at him and lighting a match was put to death Wednesday, May 20

Leroy Dean McGill was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m. PT following a lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. McGill was aentenced to death in 2004 for the murder of Charles Perez, who was attacked with his girlfriend in a north Phoenix apartment on July 13, 2002.

McGill didn’t appear to be resisting at any point during the procedure. After a lethal dose of pentobarbital began flowing, he began breathing heavily and made a snoring sound. And, about 21 minutes after the IV insertion process began, he was pronounced dead.

John Barcello, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, quoted McGill’s last words as: “I just want to thank everyone for being so accommodating and nice.”

Before the injection began, McGill looked at the witnesses, smiled and nodded. Media witness Josh Kelety from The Associated Press said he heard McGill at one point say: “I’m going home soon.”

Media witness Sean Rice from Phoenix television station KPN said the execution was carried out smoothly.

“I didn’t see any issue at all finding a vein on either arm,” he said. Rice said he also observed a slight twitching on the right side of McGill’s head about four minutes before the inmate was pronounced dead.

Authorities said that in 2002 McGill threw gasoline at Perez and Perez’s girlfriend, Nova Banta, as they sat on a sofa in the apartment, setting them on fire. Perez and Banta had accused McGill of stealing a gun from the apartment before the attack. At the time, McGill was using methamphetamine and hadn’t slept in several days.

Banta survived, but Perez died. Banta identified McGill as the attacker at trial.

McGill’s lawyers had argued for leniency by presenting evidence about abuse he suffered as a child as well as mental impairment and psychological immaturity. The jury ultimately returned the death sentence.

This spring, McGill’s lawyers made a last-ditch bid to get him resentenced, but a lower-court judge rejected it. The Arizona Supreme Court also declined a request from McGill’s lawyers to postpone the execution.

McGill, who declined an interview request from The Associated Press, waived his right to seek clemency.

The state’s current execution protocol calls for administering two syringes of pentobarbital, a powerful sedative.

McGill becomes the 1st person to be put to death this year in Arizona the 43rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1992, the 13th person to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,667th overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.