An Arizona man found guilty of murder for setting another man on fire after dousing him with gasoline was executed on Wednesday. This marks the first in a series of three executions planned across the United States this week.
The Associated Press reported that 53-year-old Leroy Dean McGill was declared dead at 10:26 a.m. PDT, following a lethal injection administered at the Arizona State Prison Complex located in Florence.
McGill faced conviction for the murder of James Perez during a 2002 incident at a north Phoenix apartment. Authorities stated that McGill, who was reportedly under the influence of methamphetamine and had been sleep-deprived for days, poured gasoline on Perez and his girlfriend, Nova Banta, as they sat on a couch, and then set them ablaze.
While Banta managed to survive the ordeal, Perez succumbed to his injuries later.
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A directional sign indicates the way to the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, Arizona, where Leroy Dean McGill faced execution by lethal injection on Wednesday. McGill was convicted for the 2002 murder of James Perez. (AP Image)
Witnesses said McGill appeared calm and did not resist during the execution. Before the procedure began, McGill looked toward witnesses, smiled and nodded, and at one point said, “I’m going home soon,” according to The AP.
Leroy Dean McGill was executed Wednesday at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence for the 2002 murder of James Perez in Phoenix. (AP Images)
After receiving pentobarbital, McGill began breathing heavily and made what witnesses described as a snoring sound. Nearly 21 minutes after the IV was inserted, he was pronounced dead.
Arizona faced criticism in 2022 after execution officials struggled to insert IV lines during another inmate’s lethal injection, but witnesses said Wednesday’s procedure appeared to go smoothly.
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The Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, Arizona, where Leroy Dean McGill was executed by lethal injection Wednesday. (AP Images)
“I didn’t see any issue at all finding a vein on either arm,” Sean Rice, a media witness from Phoenix television station KPNX, said. Rice added that he noticed a slight twitch on the right side of McGill’s head roughly four minutes before the inmate was declared dead.
“Today’s process went according to plan,” Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Deputy Director John Barcello said, adding that McGill’s final words were: “I just want to thank everyone for being so accommodating and nice.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office advocated for the execution to proceed, said she was thinking of the victims and their families following McGill’s death.
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During the trial, Banta testified that McGill warned her and Perez not to “talk behind people’s backs” moments before the attack. Investigators said the pair ran from the apartment after being set on fire.
Another resident used a blanket to extinguish the flames covering Banta, who suffered third-degree burns across most of her body. Prosecutors said Perez died at a hospital while suffering severe pain from his injuries.
Banta later identified McGill in court as the attacker.
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A jury took less than an hour to convict McGill in October 2004 of first-degree murder in Perez’s death. Jurors also found him guilty of attempted murder in the attack on Banta, as well as arson and endangerment charges tied to residents who escaped unharmed after the fire spread to a neighboring apartment.
A gurney used for lethal injections in executions is shown in this file photo. (Sue Ogrocki/Unknown)
During sentencing, defense attorneys urged jurors to spare McGill’s life, citing childhood abuse, mental deficiencies and emotional immaturity. Jurors instead imposed the death penalty.
Earlier this year, McGill’s attorneys sought to reopen the sentencing phase in an effort to stop the execution, but a lower court judge denied the request. The Arizona Supreme Court later declined to delay the execution.
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McGill declined an interview request from The Associated Press and waived his right to seek clemency.
McGill’s execution marked the 12th carried out in the U.S. this year. Executions were also scheduled Thursday in Tennessee and Florida.
Arizona last carried out executions in 2025, putting to death Richard Kenneth Djerf for the 1993 killings of four members of a Phoenix family and Aaron Gunches for the 2002 fatal shooting of his girlfriend’s former husband.
The state resumed executions in 2022 after an almost eight-year pause caused by problems obtaining lethal injection drugs and scrutiny surrounding the 2014 execution of Joseph Wood, who gasped and snorted repeatedly for roughly two hours after receiving 15 doses of a two-drug combination before dying.
Arizona’s current execution protocol calls for administering two syringes of pentobarbital, a powerful sedative. Following McGill’s execution, 108 inmates remain on the state’s death row.
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