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Judge in US State of Virginia Sets Date for First Execution Since 2015

22 November 2016 01:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A judge in the US state of Virginia has set a date for the execution of convicted murderer Ricky Gray, whose execution would be the state’s first in 18 months, local media reported on Monday, APA reports quoting sputniknews.

During a court hearing on Monday, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Beverly Snukals set Gray’s execution date for January 18, 2017, WWBT reported.

Virginia has carried out 111 executions since the United States reinstituted the death penalty in 1976, but has not executed anyone since last October. Currently, seven people are on death row in the state. Gray was sentenced to death for the 2006 murders of Stella and Ruby Harvey, whose parents he also killed with the help of an accomplice. Thirty US states have capital punishment, but Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington have gubernatorial moratoria on executions.