25 People Were Executed In The US In 2024
In 2024, the United States executed 25 individuals, marking a slight increase over the previous year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center’s year-end report. This year also saw 26 new death sentences, maintaining a decade-long trend of fewer than 50 annual death sentences. Despite the steady decline, concerns over fairness and accuracy in the application of the death penalty continued to grow. Executions occurred in nine states, with Alabama leading at six executions, followed by Texas with five, and Missouri and Oklahoma with four each. Together, these states accounted for 76% of the year’s executions. South Carolina and Utah performed executions for the first time in more than a decade. Taberon Honie was the sole person executed in Utah, receiving a lethal injection on August 8 for a 1998 murder. Honie’s final words expressed remorse and encouragement for personal growth. In South Carolina, Freddie Owens and Richard Moore were executed despite controversies surrounding their trials. Owens’ co-defendant claimed he was wrongly implicated, while Moore faced trial with an all-white jury, raising fairness concerns. Indiana conducted its first execution since 2009, putting to death Joseph Corcoran for a 1997 quadruple murder. Despite evidence of severe mental illness, Corcoran’s appeals were denied. Oklahoma is set to execute Kevin Underwood, convicted for a 2006 child murder, highlighting the persistence of capital punishment in the state. Death sentences and executions disproportionately affected people of color in 2024. Twelve of the 25 executed were people of color, and 54% of new death sentences were imposed on individuals from minority groups. These statistics continued to fuel debates about systemic bias in the justice system. The year also saw three death row exonerations, bringing the total to 200 since 1972. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rejected 114 of 117 petitions from death row inmates claiming innocence. “2024 brought renewed scrutiny to the death penalty’s fairness,” said Robert M. Maher of the Death Penalty Information Center. High-profile cases, including those involving credible claims of innocence, have spurred public outrage and declining support for the practice, especially among younger Americans.
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A GoFundMe account for Cliff Harshman, the father, had topped $44,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
My colleagues and I at the Wisconsin Innocence Project work every day with people whose lives have been irreparably harmed by wrongful convictions. We know from firsthand experience that wrongful convictions inflict lifelong harm — measured not just in years lost, but in shattered families, lost opportunities, chronic health problems and the psychological toll of incarceration.
