Death penalty at a glance
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North Carolina’s lethal injection Friday of double murderer Kenneth Lee Boyd was the 1,000th execution in the U.S. since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. Later Friday, South Carolina executed the 1,001st, Shawn Paul Humphries, who had killed a convenience store owner during a robbery.
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Executions by method
Lethal injection: 833
Electrocution: 152
Gas chamber: 11
Hanging: 3
Firing squad: 2
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Top execution rates
(per million population)
Oklahoma: 2.24
Delaware: 1.68
Texas: 1.56
Virginia: 1.26
Missouri: 1.14
Note: California’s rate is 0.03
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Executions by region*
South: 819
Midwest: 116
West: 62
Northeast: 4
*Federal executions included in states where crimes occurred.
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The race factor
Executions
White: 58%
Black: 34%
Latino: 6%
Other: 2%
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Victims
White: 80%
Black: 14%
Latino: 4%
Other: 2%
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Current death row population
White: 46%
Black: 42%
Latino: 10%
Other: 2%
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Interracial murder executions
(one defendant, one or more victims)
White defendant/black victim(s): 12
Black defendant/white victim(s): 206
Note: Race statistics do not include Kenneth Lee Boyd or Shawn Paul Humphries, who were white.
Source: Death Penalty Information Center. Graphics reporting by Tom Reinken
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