General Public

Executions in Mississippi

Since Mississippi joined the Union in 1817, several forms of execution have been used. Hanging was the first form of execution used in Mississippi. The state continued to execute prisoners sentenced to die by hanging until October 11, 1940, when Hilton Fortenberry, convicted of capital murder in Jefferson Davis County, became the first prisoner to be executed in the electric chair.  Between 1940 and February 5, 1952, the old oak electric chair was moved from county to county to conduct executions.  During the 12-year span, 75 prisoners were executed in the Magnolia State for offenses punishable by death.

In 1954, the gas chamber was installed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.  It replaced the electric chair, which today is on display at the Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Academy. Gearald A. Gallego became the first prisoner to be executed by lethal gas on March 3, 1955.  During the course of the next 34 years, 35 death row inmates were executed in the gas chamber.  Leo Edwards became the last person to be executed in the gas chamber at the Mississippi State Penitentiary on June 21, 1989.

On July 1, 1984, the Mississippi legislature partially amended lethal gas as the state’s form of execution in §§ 99-19-51 of the Mississippi Code.  The new amendment provided that individuals who committed capital punishment crimes after the effective date of the new law and who were subsequently sentenced to death thereafter would be executed by lethal injection.  On March 18, 1998, the Mississippi legislature amended the manner of execution by finally removing the provision lethal gas as the alternate form of execution. During the 2017 regular session of the Mississippi Legislature, lawmakers amended the law to allow death sentences to be carried out by lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, electrocution, or firing squad.

All executions occur at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

PRISONERS EXECUTED IN THE MISSISSIPPI GAS CHAMBER

Name Race-Sex Offense Date Executed
Gerald A. Gallego White Male Murder 03-03-1955
Allen Donaldson Black Male Armed Robbery 03-04-1955
August Lafontaine White Male Murder 04-28-1955
John E. Wiggins White Male Murder 06-20-1955
Mack C. Lewis Black Male Murder 06-23-1955
Walter Johnson Black Male Rape 08-19-1955
Murray G. Gilmore White Male Murder 12-09-1955
Mose Robinson Black Male Rape 12-16-1955
Robert Buchanan Black Male Rape 01-03-1956
Edgar Keeler Black Male Murder 01-27-1956
O.C. McNair Black Male Murder 02-17-1956
James Russell Black Male Murder 04-05-1956
Dewey Towsel Black Male Murder 06-22-1956
Willie Jones Black Male Murder 07-13-1956
Mack Drake Black Male Rape 11-07-1956
Henry Jackson Black Male Murder 11-08-1956
Minor Sorber White Male Murder 02-08-1957
Joe L. Thompson Black Male Murder 11-14-1957
William A. Wetzell White Male Murder 01-17-1958
J.C. Cameron Black Male Rape 05-28-1958
Allen Dean, Jr. Black Male Murder 12-19-1958
Nathaniel Young Black Male Rape 11-10-1960
William Stokes Black Male Murder 04-21-1961
Robert L. Goldsby Black Male Murder 05-31-1961
J.W. Simmons Black Male Murder 07-14-1961
Howard Cook Black Male Rape 12-19-1961
Ellic Lee Black Male Rape 12-20-1961
Willie Wilson Black Male Rape 05-11-1962
Kenneth Slyter White Male Murder 03-29-1963
Willie J. Anderson Black Male Murder 06-14-1963
Tim Jackson Black Male Murder 05-01-1964
Jimmy Lee Gray White Male Murder 09-02-1983
Edward E. Johnson Black Male Murder 05-20-1987
Connie Ray Evans Black Male Murder 07-08-1987
Leo Edwards Black Male Murder 06-21-1989

PRISONERS EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION

Name Race-Sex Offense Date Executed
Tracy Alan Hansen White Male Capital Murder 07-17-2002
Jessie Derrell Williams White Male Capital Murder 12-11-2002
John B. Nixon, Sr. White Male Capital Murder 12-14-2005
Bobby G. Wilcher White Male Capital Murder x 2 10-18-2006
Earl W. Berry White Male Capital Murder 05-21-2008
Dale L. Bishop White Male Capital Murder 07-23-2008
Paul E. Woodward White Male Capital Murder 05-19-2010
Gerald J. Holland White Male Capital Murder 05-20-1200
Joseph D. Burns White Male Capital Murder 07-21-2010
Benny Joe Stevens White Male Capital Murder x 4 05-10-2011
Rodney Gray Black Male Capital Murder 05-17-2011
Edwin Hart Turner White Male Capital Murder 02-08-2012
Larry Matthew Puckett White Male Capital Murder 03-20-2012
William J Mitchell Black Male Capital Murder 03-22-2012
Henry Curtis Jackson Black Male Capital Murder x 4 06-05-2012
Jan Michael Brawner White Male Capital Murder x 4 06-12-2012
Gary Carl Simmons White Male Capital Murder 06-20-2012
David Neal Cox White Male Capital Murder 11-17-2021
Thomas Edwin Loden Jr. White Male Capital Murder 12-14-2022
Richard G. Jordan White Male Capital Murder 06-25-2025