Arizona is preparing to execute a prisoner convicted of killing a man by dousing him with gasoline and setting him alight more than two decades ago. Leroy Dean McGill, aged 63, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence on Wednesday. This execution marks the first of three planned across the United States this week.
The Crime and Conviction
McGill was found guilty of murder in the death of Charles Perez, which occurred in July 2002. According to authorities, on July 13 of that year, McGill threw gasoline and a lit match at Perez and his girlfriend, Nova Banta, as they sat on a sofa in a north Phoenix apartment. The attack followed accusations that McGill had stolen a gun from the apartment. At the time, McGill was under the influence of methamphetamine and had not slept for several days. Banta survived the attack, but Perez succumbed to his injuries.
Trial and Sentencing
During the trial, Banta testified that McGill warned her and Perez not to speak about others behind their backs. Before they could respond, McGill set them on fire. Perez and Banta fled the apartment, and a fellow resident used a blanket to extinguish the flames on Banta, who suffered third-degree burns over 75% of her body. Perez died later in hospital after enduring what prosecutors described as extreme pain. Banta identified McGill as the perpetrator in court.
Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before convicting McGill of murder in October 2004. He was also found guilty of attempted murder for the attack on Banta, as well as arson and endangerment, as the fire forced residents to evacuate the apartment and a neighboring unit. McGill's legal team sought leniency by highlighting his abusive childhood, mental impairment, and psychological immaturity, but the jury ultimately imposed the death sentence.
Legal Efforts and Execution
This spring, McGill's lawyers made a final bid to have his sentence reduced, but a lower-court judge rejected the motion. The Arizona Supreme Court also declined a request to postpone the execution. McGill waived his right to seek clemency and declined an interview request from the Associated Press.
Arizona's last execution took place in 2025, when Richard Kenneth Djerf was put to death for the 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family, and Aaron Gunches was executed for the 2002 fatal shooting of his girlfriend's ex-husband. The state resumed executions in 2022 after a nearly eight-year pause due to difficulties obtaining execution drugs and criticism over a botched 2014 execution, in which Joseph Wood received 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours, gasping and snorting repeatedly before dying.
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, the current execution protocol involves administering two syringes of the sedative pentobarbital. There are currently 109 prisoners on death row in Arizona.
