A 53-year-old man convicted of murder was put to death by lethal injection in Arizona on Wednesday, the first execution in the southwestern United States in more than two years.
Aaron Gunches, who had abandoned legal attempts to stop his execution, was condemned to death for the 2002 murder of Ted Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband.
“Justice for Ted Price and his family was finally served,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters after the execution at a state prison in Florence, Arizona.
According to media witnesses, Gunches was brought on a stretcher in the execution chamber and had his arms and legs restrained.
When asked whether he had any last comments, Gunches shook his head and said no.
Intravenous lines were subsequently put into his arms, and Gunches exhaled hard multiple times as the medications started flowing, according to witnesses.
He lost consciousness and his chest stopped moving after several minutes.
Gunches was certified dead at 10:33 a.m. local time, and “the process went according to plan and without incident,” according to an Arizona Department of Corrections statement.
Gunches was the first prisoner executed in Arizona since November 2022.
Problems in administering fatal injections in prior executions resulted in the postponement of death punishment while a review was done.
Gunches was killed one day after a 46-year-old man convicted of rape and murder was executed in the southern state of Louisiana using nitrogen gas.
Jessie Hoffman, who was condemned to death for the 1996 murder of Molly Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, became Louisiana’s first execution in 15 years. Nitrogen gas has been used to execute just four people in the United States, all in Alabama, the only other state having a procedure for the practice, which includes pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, forcing the prisoner to choke.
Hoffman’s lawyers tried to halt the execution, claiming in court documents that the procedure is illegal and violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The state’s attorney general said that at least four individuals are anticipated to be executed this year.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the next execution is set for March 20 in Oklahoma, with 11 more slated for 2025.