Mississippi  Department of  Corrections

Christopher B. Epps	Phil Bryant
Commissioner	Governor

Mississippi and the Death Penalty

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.

PRISONERS EXECUTED IN THE MISSISSIPPI GAS CHAMBER

 

Name	Race-Sex	Offense	Date Executed
Gerald A. Gallego	White Male	Murder	03-03-55
Allen Donaldson	Black Male	Armed Robbery	03-04-55
August  Lafontaine	White Male	Murder	04-28-55
John E. Wiggins	White Male	Murder	06-20-55
Mack C. Lewis	Black Male	Murder	06-23-55
Walter Johnson	Black Male	Rape	08-19-55
Murray G. Gilmore	White Male	Murder	12-09-55
Mose Robinson	Black Male	Rape	12-16-55
Robert Buchanan	Black Male	Rape	01-03-56
Edgar Keeler	Black Male	Murder	01-27-56
O.C. McNair	Black Male	Murder	02-17-56
James Russell	Black Male	Murder	04-05-56
Dewey Towsel	Black Male	Murder	06-22-56
Willie Jones	Black Male	Murder	07-13-56
Mack Drake	Black Male	Rape	11-07-56
Henry Jackson	Black Male	Murder	11-08-56

 

 

Name	Race-Sex	Offense	Date Executed
Minor Sorber	White Male	Murder	02-08-57
Joe L. Thompson	Black Male	Murder	11-14-57
William A. Wetzell	White Male	Murder	01-17-58
J.C. Cameron	Black Male	Rape	05-28-58
Allen Dean, Jr.	Black Male	Murder	12-19-58
Nathaniel Young	Black Male	Rape	11-10-60
William Stokes	Black Male	Murder	04-21-61
Robert L. Goldsby	Black Male	Murder	05-31-61
J.W. Simmons	Black Male	Murder	07-14-61
Howard Cook	Black Male	Rape	12-19-61
Ellic Lee	Black Male	Rape	12-20-61
Willie Wilson	Black Male	Rape	05-11-62
Kenneth Slyter	White Male	Murder	03-29-63
Willie J. Anderson	Black Male	Murder	06-14-63
Tim Jackson	Black Male	Murder	05-01-64
Jimmy Lee Gray	White Male	Murder	09-02-83
Edward E. Johnson	Black Male	Murder	05-20-87
Connie Ray Evans	Black Male	Murder	07-08-87
Leo Edwards	Black Male	Murder	06-21-89

 

PRISONERS EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION

Name	Race-Sex	Offense	Date Executed
Tracy Alan Hansen	White Male	Capital Murder	07-17-02
Jessie Derrell Williams	White Male	Capital Murder	12-11-02
John B. Nixon, Sr.	White Male	Capital Murder	12-14-05
Bobby G. Wilcher	White Male	Capital Murder x 2	10-18-06
Earl W. Berry	White Male	Capital Murder	05-21-08
Dale L. Bishop	White Male	Capital Murder	07-23-08
Paul E. Woodward	White Male	Capital Murder	05-19-10
Gerald J. Holland	White Male	Capital Murder	05-20-10
Joseph D. Burns	White Male	Capital Murder	07-21-10
Benny Joe Stevens	White Male	Capital Murder x 4	05-10-11
Rodney Gray	Black Male	Capital Murder	05-17-11