PHOENIX — Leroy Dean McGill, who was convicted of several crimes - including murder - more than 20 years ago, was executed in Arizona on Wednesday.
Officials announced McGill was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m. by lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex - Florence.
WATCH: Officials provide details on latest Arizona execution
John Barcello, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry said McGill’s last meal included onion rings, bread and butter, cottage pie, chocolate cake and a green salad. He quoted McGill’s last words as: “I just want to thank everyone for being so accommodating and nice.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office pressed for the execution, said: “My thoughts today are with the family and the loved ones of Charles Perez and Nova Banta."
“That process went swimmingly. I didn’t see any issue at all finding a vein on either arm,” said media witness Sean Rice from Phoenix television station KPNX. Rice said he observed a slight twitching on the right side of McGill’s head about four minutes before time of death.
Following Wednesday's execution, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell released the following statement:
"After more than two decades, justice was finally served for Charles Perez and the woman who survived this horrific attack. What Leroy McGill did — pouring gasoline on the victims and setting them on fire — was among the cruelest acts imaginable. My thoughts are with the family of Charles Perez and the survivor, who has lived with the physical and emotional scars of that night for nearly 24 years. May this bring them some measure of peace."
McGill was charged with the murder of Charles Perez and the attempted murder of Nova Banta. Documents state that in July 2002, McGill entered a Phoenix apartment and threw gasoline on Perez and Banta, and set them on fire. Three other people were able to escape from the fire.
McGill was charged in 2003, and the following year, a jury found him guilty on all counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, arson, and the endangerment of three other victims.
At the sentencing, the jury found McGill had been convicted of prior serious offenses, that he knowingly created a grave risk of death to persons other than the victim, and that he committed the offenses in both an "especially cruel" and an "especially heinous or depraved" manner. The jury determined that death was the appropriate sentence for the murder of Perez.
By 2022, McGill had exhausted all his state and federal appeals to challenge his sentences.
The state filed a motion for execution on March 6, 2026, and it was granted by the Arizona Supreme Court. McGill was executed on May 20, 2026.
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