List of people executed in Louisiana

The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Louisiana since capital punishment was resumed in the United States in 1976.

A total of 29 people convicted of murder have been executed by the state of Louisiana since 1976. Of the 29 people executed, 20 were executed via electrocution, 8 via lethal injection and 1 via nitrogen hypoxia. The most recent Louisiana inmate to be put to death, Jessie Hoffman Jr., was the first in the state to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.[1][2]

## List of people executed in Louisiana since 1976

[edit]

No. | Name  | Race  | Age  | Sex  | Date of execution  | Parish  | Method  | Victim(s)  | Governor

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1  | Robert Wayne Williams | Black  | 31  | M  | December 14, 1983  | East Baton Rouge | Electrocution[a] | Willie Kelly  | Dave Treen
2  | Johnny Davis Taylor Jr. | Black  | 30  | M  | February 29, 1984  | Jefferson | David Vogler
3  | Elmo Patrick Sonnier | White  | 34  | M  | April 5, 1984  | Iberia | Loretta Bourque and David LeBlanc  | Edwin Edwards
4  | Timothy George Baldwin | White  | 46  | M  | September 10, 1984  | Ouachita | Mary Lee Peters
5  | Earnest Knighton Jr. | Black  | 38  | M  | October 30, 1984  | Bossier | Ralph Shell
6  | Robert Lee Willie | White  | 26  | M  | December 28, 1984  | St. Tammany | Faith Hathaway
7  | David Dene Martin | White  | 32  | M  | January 4, 1985  | Terrebonne | 4 murder victims[b]
8  | Benjamin A. Berry | White  | 31  | M  | June 7, 1987  | Jefferson | Jefferson Parish Deputy Sheriff Robert Cochran[3]
9  | Alvin Rudolph Moore Jr. | Black  | 27  | M  | June 9, 1987  | Bossier | Jo Ann Wilson
10  | Jimmy L. Glass | White  | 25  | M  | June 12, 1987  | Webster | Newt Brown and Erlene Brown
11  | Jimmy C. Wingo | White  | 35  | M  | June 16, 1987
12  | Willie Lawrence Celestine | Black  | 30  | M  | July 20, 1987  | Lafayette | Marcelaine Richard
13  | Willie Watson | Black  | 31  | M  | July 24, 1987  | St. Charles | Kathy Newman
14  | John E. Brogdon | White  | 25  | M  | July 30, 1987  | Barbara Jo Brown
15  | Sterling John Rault Jr. | White  | 36  | M  | August 24, 1987[c] | Orleans | Jane Ellen Francioni
16  | Wayne Robert Felde | White  | 38  | M  | March 15, 1988[d] | Caddo | Shreveport Police Officer Glen Tompkins[4] | Buddy Roemer
17  | Leslie Lowenfield | Black  | 34  | M  | April 13, 1988  | Jefferson | 5 murder victims[e]
18  | Edward R. Byrne Jr.[f] | White  | 28  | M  | June 14, 1988  | Bossier | Roberta June Johnson
19  | Dalton Prejean | Black  | 30  | M  | May 18, 1990  | Lafayette | Louisiana State Police Trooper Donald Cleveland
20  | Andrew Lee Jones | Black  | 35  | M  | July 22, 1991  | East Baton Rouge | Tumekica Jackson
21  | Robert Wayne Sawyer | White  | 41  | M  | March 5, 1993  | Jefferson | Lethal injection | Frances Arwood  | Edwin Edwards
22  | Thomas Lee Ward | Black  | 59  | M  | May 16, 1995  | Orleans | Wilbert John Spencer
23  | Antonio G. James | Black  | 42  | M  | March 1, 1996  | Henry Silver  | Mike Foster
24  | John Ashley Brown Jr. | White  | 35  | M  | April 24, 1997  | Omer Laughlin
25  | Dobie Gillis Williams | Black  | 38  | M  | January 8, 1999  | Sabine[g] | Sonja Knippers
26  | Feltus Taylor Jr. | Black  | 38  | M  | June 6, 2000  | East Baton Rouge | Donna Ponsano
27  | Leslie Dale Martin | White  | 35  | M  | May 10, 2002  | Calcasieu | Christina Burgin
28  | Gerald James Bordelon[h] | White  | 47  | M  | January 7, 2010  | Livingston | Courtney LeBlanc  | Bobby Jindal
29  | Jessie Dean Hoffman Jr. | Black  | 46  | M  | March 18, 2025  | St. Tammany | Nitrogen hypoxia[i] | Mary Margaret Elliott  | Jeff Landry

## Demographics

[edit]

Race

White  | 15  | 52%
Black  | 14  | 48%
Age
20–29  | 5  | 17%
30–39  | 18  | 62%
40–49  | 5  | 17%
50–59  | 1  | 3%
Sex
Male  | 29  | 100%
Date of execution
1976–1979  | 0  | 0%
1980–1989  | 18  | 62%
1990–1999  | 7  | 24%
2000–2009  | 2  | 7%
2010–2019  | 1  | 3%
2020–2029  | 1  | 3%
Method
Electrocution | 20  | 69%
Lethal injection | 8  | 28%
Nitrogen hypoxia | 1  | 3%
Governor (Party)
Edwin Edwards (D)[j] | 15  | 52%
Dave Treen (R) | 2  | 7%
Buddy Roemer (D/R)[k] | 5  | 17%
Mike Foster (R) | 5  | 17%
Kathleen Blanco (D) | 0  | 0%
Bobby Jindal (R)[l] | 1  | 3%
John Bel Edwards (D) | 0  | 0%
Jeff Landry (R) | 1  | 3%
Total  | 29  | 100%

## See also

[edit]

* Capital punishment in Louisiana
* Capital punishment in the United States
* List of people executed in Louisiana (pre-1972) – executions before Furman

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, Louisiana is one of only two states to have executed more people via electrocution than lethal injection (Nebraska, which required electrocution until 2009, is the other).
2. ^ The 4 victims were: Bobby Todd, Terry Hebert, Sandra Brake, and Anne Tierney.
3. ^ Louisiana executed a total of 8 inmates in 1987, the highest of all states for that calendar year and accounting for nearly a third of all executions in 1987.
4. ^ Felde was executed 12 hours after Buddy Roemer's inauguration as Louisiana governor. Roemer and his predecessor, Edwin Edwards, each rejected appeals for clemency.
5. ^ The 5 victims were: Sheila Thomas, Shantel Osborne, Carol Osborne, Owen Griffin, and Myrtle Griffin.
6. ^ Edward R. Byrne Jr. was the 100th person to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
7. ^ Was tried and convicted in Grant Parish.
8. ^ Bordelon waived all appeals and was voluntarily executed.
9. ^ Louisiana became the second state after Alabama to carry out executions by nitrogen hypoxia.
10. ^ Capital punishment in Louisiana was officially reinstated in 1977 (after a 1973 law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court) during Edwards' second of four terms as governor. His second term expired March 10, 1980. His third term was March 12, 1984-March 14, 1988; his fourth was January 13, 1992-January 8, 1996.
11. ^ Roemer switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican on March 11, 1991.
12. ^ Gerald Bordelon, the only person executed during Jindal's two terms, waived all appeals.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Execution Database | Death Penalty Information Center". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
2. ^ "Louisiana uses nitrogen gas for first time in death row execution". The Guardian. March 18, 2025.
3. ^ Coates, Guy. "Benjamin Berry Dies In Electric Chair". Associated Press.
4. ^ McGill, Kevin. "Felde Executed In Louisiana With AM-Darden Bjt". Associated Press.

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