The Arizona Supreme Court has issued an execution warrant for Leroy Dean McGill.
In 2002, McGill poured gasoline on his former roommate and his girlfriend and set them on fire. The roommate was killed, while his girlfriend was severely injured.
A jury unanimously convicted McGill of arson, endangerment, murder and attempted murder in 2004. They determined he committed the attack in an “especially cruel” manner. He has since exhausted all of his appeals.
The state requested an execution warrant earlier this month, which was granted by the court on Thursday. Justices James Beene and John Lopez IV recused themselves from the decision.
McGill’s execution is scheduled for May 20.
The state last carried out an execution in October, using lethal injection on Richard Djerf. The state has twice paused executions since 2014, following a botched execution which took close to two hours.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs paused executions again in 2023 shortly after taking office. Hobbs ordered a review of execution protocols. That wrapped up in 2024 and the state resumed executions in 2025.
-
Now, one state lawmaker is demanding answers from the Arizona Department of Corrections as budget cuts put a stop to a planned HVAC overhaul across our state’s prison system. -
Maricopa County is investing in employment services for incarcerated veterans after it received more than $1 million in grant money. -
The head of community and culture at the Durango juvenile detention center says more kids in the facility want to graduate high school because they can almost immediately start Arizona State University classes. -
When a woman is released from prison, the roadmap back is complicated. But to really start over, she needs a job. For women with a criminal record, that can be difficult. -
An Arizona woman who used fake court documents to secure her father’s early release from prison last year has been arrested in Texas for forging documents in a child custody dispute.
