A Mississippi man convicted of heinous crimes is set to face lethal injection on Wednesday, marking the third execution in the United States this week. Charles Crawford, 59, was sentenced to death for the 1994 rape and murder of Kristy Ray, a 20-year-old college student. The execution is scheduled for 6:00 pm Central Time (2300 GMT) at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.
This execution follows two others carried out on Tuesday in Florida and Missouri, with another planned for Friday in Arizona. Richard Djerf, 55, will be executed for the brutal 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family. So far this year, the US has seen 37 executions, the highest number since 2013, when 39 inmates were put to death.
Florida leads the nation with 14 executions, followed by Texas with five, and South Carolina and Alabama with four each. The majority of these executions have been conducted via lethal injection, though alternative methods such as firing squad and nitrogen hypoxia have also been employed. The latter method, involving the pumping of nitrogen gas into a face mask to induce suffocation, has drawn criticism from United Nations experts, who deem it cruel and inhumane.
While 23 US states have abolished the death penalty, three others—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have imposed moratoriums. President Donald Trump has been a vocal advocate for capital punishment, calling for its expanded use for the most severe crimes since his first day in office.