An Arizona inmate convicted of killing Charles Perez by setting him on fire was executed Wednesday at a state prison in Florence, the first of three executions planned in Arizona this week, according to the Associated Press.
Leroy Dean McGill, 63, was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m. PDT after authorities administered a lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, AP reported. Officials said he had not appeared to be resisting during the procedure, which followed the state’s current protocol calling for pentobarbital and was carried out with the involvement of media witnesses observing the process.
AP reported that John Barcello, a deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, said the execution process “went according to plan.” Barcello said McGill’s last words were, “I just want to thank everyone for being so accommodating and nice.” Before the injection began, AP reported that McGill looked at witnesses, smiled and nodded.
Media witness Josh Kelety of The Associated Press, who was present as the execution proceeded, said he heard McGill at one point say, “I’m going home soon.” AP also reported that media witness Sean Rice of Phoenix television station KPN said he observed the execution carried out smoothly and that he found “any issue” in locating a vein on either arm. Rice said he observed a slight twitching on the right side of McGill’s head about four minutes before the inmate was pronounced dead.
Authorities said McGill, using methamphetamine and having not slept for several days, threw gasoline at Perez and Perez’s girlfriend, Nova Banta, while they sat on a sofa in a north Phoenix apartment on July 13, 2002, and lit a match. Authorities said Banta survived after she and others ran from the apartment; prosecutors said Perez died later at a hospital, and the injuries included Perez’s being attacked in extreme pain, as prosecutors described.
AP reported that at trial Banta identified McGill as the attacker. Prosecutors said Perez and Banta had accused McGill of stealing a gun from the apartment before the attack, and authorities said McGill lit them on fire after telling them not to talk behind people’s backs. AP also reported that jurors deliberated for less than an hour before convicting McGill of murder in Perez’s death in October 2004, following which he also received additional convictions including attempted murder for attacking Banta, arson and endangerment for the fire.
McGill’s lawyers sought leniency by presenting evidence about abuse McGill suffered as a child as well as mental impairment and psychological immaturity, AP reported. The jury returned the death sentence, and later attempts for relief included a spring bid by the defense to get him resentenced and efforts to postpone the execution, AP reported. AP said those requests were rejected by a lower-court judge and the Arizona Supreme Court.
AP also reported that the state faced criticism in the past over difficulty in inserting IV lines, including after a 2014 execution in