Seventeen people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2020, sixteen by lethal injection and one by electrocution. The most recent execution by electrocution occurred this year. The federal government of the United States executed ten people in 2020, ending a hiatus on federal executions which had lasted for over 17 years. State executions dropped significantly in 2020 compared to previous years, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. One condemned inmate, Jimmy Fletcher Meders, was originally scheduled to be executed in Georgia on January 16, 2020. However, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole just hours before his scheduled execution.
List of people executed in the United States in 2020 Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method At execution At offense Age difference 1 January 15, 2020 64 49 15MaleWhite TexasLethal injection 2 January 29, 2020 66 43 23 Georgia 3 February 6, 2020 47 29 18 Hispanic Texas 4 February 20, 2020 58 23 35 White Tennessee Electrocution 5 March 5, 2020 43 27 16 Black AlabamaLethal injection 6 May 19, 2020 64 35 29White Missouri 7 July 8, 2020 45 18 27 Texas 8 July 14, 2020 47 22 25Federal government 9 July 16, 2020 68 46 22 10 July 17, 2020 52 25 27 11 August 26, 2020 38 20 18 Native American 12 August 28, 2020 45 24 21White 13 September 22, 2020 50 31 19 14 September 24, 2020 40 19 21Black 15 November 19, 2020 49 23 26 "Inmate Information Orlando Cordia Hall", Texas Department of Criminal Justice 16 December 10, 2020 40 18 22 17 December 11, 2020 56 38 18 Average: 51 years 29 years 22 years
Demographics Gender Male 17 100% Female 0 0% Ethnicity White 10 59% Black 5 29% Hispanic 1 6% Native American 1 6% State Federal government 10 59% Texas 3 18% Alabama 1 6% Georgia 1 6% Missouri 1 6% Tennessee 1 6% Method Lethal injection 16 94% Electrocution 1 6% Month January 2 12% February 2 12% March 1 6% April 0 0% May 1 6% June 0 0% July 4 24% August 2 12% September 2 12% October 0 0% November 1 6% December 2 12% Age 30–39 1 6% 40–49 8 47% 50–59 4 24% 60–69 4 24% Total 17 100%
Executions in recent years Number of executions 2021 11 2020 17 2019 22 Total 50
COVID-19-related problems with scheduling executions Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of executions that had been planned for 2020 were postponed and/or rescheduled. Texas postponed the executions of seven inmates who were due to be executed between March and September, beginning with Carlos Trevino, whose execution was postponed three times (first on March 11, then June 3, and finally September 30). Tennessee also postponed the executions of four inmates who were due to be executed between June and December. In addition, the December 8 execution of Lisa Montgomery by the federal government was postponed by the DC District Court after both of her defense attorneys caught COVID-19. She was executed the following year, on January 13, 2021.
See also List of death row inmates in the United States List of people executed by the United States federal government List of people executed in Texas, 2020–present List of people executed in Georgia List of people executed in Missouri List of people executed in Tennessee List of people executed in Alabama
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