death penalty

In 2023, Missouri executed four people, making it one of just five states to use the death penalty — and another execution has been set for this year.

Twenty-four executions have been carried out in 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center says. Four of those happened in Missouri, including the first known execution of an openly transgender woman. Meanwhile, 50% of Americans say the death penalty is applied unfairly.

Johnny Johnson’s lawyers argued he was too mentally ill to understand the link between his crime and his punishment. But the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, going against long-established precedent by allowing his execution to continue.

Opponents of the death penalty want Missouri to abolish the practice. They say it's not a deterrent — the system is flawed and it gives too much power to the government.

Missouri is set to carry out its second execution of 2023 next week. Despite his 2004 conviction, Leonard Taylor has insisted he is innocent in the quadruple murder. His attorneys are hoping for a stay of execution.

Amber McLaughlin, 49, becomes the first openly transgender woman to be executed in the U.S.

Barely one month after Kevin Johnson, another St. Louis County defendant is scheduled to be executed.

Kevin Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. But an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.

A special prosecutor appointed by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which secured Johnson’s conviction, concluded that “racist prosecution techniques infected Mr. Johnson’s conviction and death sentence.” The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday denied motions to halt his execution, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. A special prosecutor is urging the court to stay Johnson's execution after an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.

DNA analysis reveals that many people in prison are not guilty. Could Missouri death-row inmate Marcellus Williams be one of them?

Kevin Johnson is scheduled to be executed by the state of Missouri on Nov. 29. A jury of six white and six Black members deadlocked on whether he was guilty of first-degree murder or a lesser charge. When he went back for a second trial, he ended up with just three Black jurors — and a guilty verdict of first-degree murder.