As Louisiana is set to resume executions, these 56 people are on death row

Jarvis DeBerry/Louisiana Illuminator

Louisiana is scheduled to carry out its first execution in 15 years this week, barring a last-minute reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Jessie Hoffman faces the death penalty for the 1996 rape and murder of Mary “Molly” Elliot, 29, in St. Tammany Parish. He would become the first person Louisiana has put to death using nitrogen hypoxia, a method that Alabama has used to execute four people since February 2024.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has said the state intends to carry out death sentences for at least for condemned people this year. She and Gov. Jeff Landry plan to attend Hoffman’s execution Tuesday at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.

The last person executed in Louisiana was Gerald Bordelon, who received a lethal injection in 2010 for the rape and murder of his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Courtney LeBlanc. The state has been unable to secure the drugs needed for lethal injections since then.

There are the 55 men and one woman facing the death penalty in Louisiana. They are listed by the parish where they were convicted and sentenced to death. 

Ascension

• Daniel Blank has confessed to killing six people in the River Parishes from 1996-97. He was sentenced to death for the 1997 fatal stabbing of 71-year-old Lillian Phillippe of Gonzales. 

Assumption

• James Dunn was sentenced to death after authorities said he took part in a 1998 armed robbery at a Napoleonville bank during which employees Jacqueline Blanchard and Lisa Dupuis were killed.

Bossier

• Jeremiah Manning kidnapped and killed Mary Malone in 2000 from her Plain Dealing home, according to police. Malone’s son has asked to have Manning’s life spared.

Caddo

• LaDerick Campbell received the death penalty for the 2002 murder of Kathy Parker, 51, during a robbery in Rodessa.
• Nathaniel Code was sentenced to die for a Shreveport quadruple murder in 1985. His victims were Vivian Culbert Chaney, her 15-year-old daughter, Carlitha Chaney, her brother, Jerry Culbert, and her boyfriend, Billy Joe Harris. Code, who police have labeled a serial killer, is believed responsible for another four to eight killings, including his 73-year-old grandfather he was named after. 
• Michael Cooks fatally shot Joe Frazier during a 1995 armed home robbery in Shreveport, investigators said. 
• Percy Davis faces execution for killing Shreveport convenience store worker Mark Sanchez and Calvin Moore, the owner of a second convenience store, on consecutive nights in 1990.
• Curtis Deal murdered his 2-month-old son Joshua in 1996, according to authorities. A coroner’s report said the infant had skull fractures and healing rib fractures, indicating he had previously been abused.
• Felton Dorsey killed retired firefighter Joe Prock during a 2006 home invasion in Greenwood, prosecutors said.
• Darrell Draughn stabbed his 64-year-old neighbor Lauretta White in 2000 in her Shreveport home, according to investigators.
• Cedric Edwards was sentenced to death for the murder of Victoria Catanese Kennedy, who police said he killed in 1995 home invasion robbery.
• Bobby Hampton killed Shreveport liquor store employee Philip Russell Coleman during a 1995 robbery, police said.
• Daniel Irish murdered his landlord, Russ Rowland, in 1996. Rowland was attempting to collect back rent from Irish, according to court records.
• Marcus Reed was convicted of killing brothers Jarquis, Jeremiah and Eugene Adams in 2010. Police said the fatal dispute was over an allegedly stolen video game console.
• Lamondre Tucker was sentenced to death for the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Tavia Sills of Shreveport, in 2008. 
• James Tyler III shot three Pizza Hut employees during a 1995 armed robbery, according to police. Manager Jock Efferson died, but the two other employees survived and identified Tyler as the killer, court records indicate.

Calcasieu

• Kevin Daigle was sentenced to death for killing Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent in 2015 after Vincent had stopped to help him with his stalled vehicle. Police said Daigle had been on his way to kill his son when his truck broke down. Daigle was also charged with the murder of his roommate, Blake Brewer, who was later found dead at his Moss Bluff home.
• Jason Reeves raped and repeatedly stabbed 4-year-old Mary Jean Thigpen of Moss Bluff in 2001, according to investigators who said the girl was left for dead in the woods.

DeSoto

• Michael Taylor killed auto dealership salesman Chester Howell during a test drive in 1991, investigators said. Taylor and an accomplice reportedly used the stolen car in a bank robbery in Iowa, in which a local police chief was shot and injured. The two men were apprehended at the Mexico border eight days after Howell’s murder, according to court records.

East Baton Rouge

• Anthony Bell was sentenced to die for murdering his wife, 24-year-old Erica Bell, and four other people in a May 2006 mass shooting at a Baton Rouge church. The other victims were: husband-and-wife Leonard and Gloria Howard, ages 78 and 72, respectively; Dolores McGrew, 67; and Darlene Selvage, 47.
• David Bowie strangled John Smith after losing all of his money to him in a dice game, according to court records. Police said Bowie used shoelaces and the cord of a clothing iron murder Smith.
• Quincy Broaden fatally shot Edward Black, 41, in 1996 over a drug debt, according to prosecutors. Police said Broaden also killed Allan Rutledge, 41, at a separate location in Scotlandville because he might have witnessed Black’s murder.
• Henry Broadway was found guilty of the 1993 shooting death of Baton Rouge Police Officer Cpl. Betty Smothers, 36, during an attempted armed robbery. Smothers was the mother of former Florida State and NFL running back Warrick Dunn.
• Dacarius Holliday beat his then girlfriend’s 2-year-old son, Darian Coon, to death in 2007 in Baton Rouge, according to investigators.
• Robert Miller was given the death penality for the robbery, rape and fatal stabbing of his 67-year-old landlord in 1997. The woman was not identified in court records.
• Allen Robertson faces capital punishment for killing Baton Rouge husband-and-wife Morris and Kazuko Presetenback, ages 76 and 71, respectively, on Jan. 1, 1991. Police said Robertson broke into their home with the intent of stealing something he could sell for money to buy drugs.
• Antoine Tate was convicted for his role in the 1997 shooting deaths of Joseph Billie, Chonner Jackson and Sylvester Rowe in Baton Rouge. Police said Tate and his four accomplices were stealing drugs and money from the victims.
• Todd Wessinger was sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of two of his co-workers, David Breakwell and Stephanie Guzzardo, during a 1995 robbery at Calendar’s restaurant in Baton Rouge. Wayne Guzzardo, the father of one of the murder victims, has been among the most vocal proponents for resuming executions in Louisiana. 

East Feliciana

• Gregory Brown was found guilty in the 1998 murders of Clinton couple William and Ann Gay, ages 62 and 60, respectively. The man and woman were shot at close range during a robbery spree that police said involved Brown and four accomplices.

Jefferson

• Julius Lucky was sentenced to death after prosecutors said he shot two of his co-workers at a Metairie daiquiri shop to steal money in 1994. Leatitia Fageot was killed, but the other employee survived and identified Lucky and another co-worker who police said was his accomplice.
• Jarrell Neal killed Fergus Robinson and Greg Vickers at a Metairie home in 1998 while attempting to collect an overdue drug debt, police said
• Manuel Ortiz was sentenced to death for the 1992 murder of his wife, Tracie Williams Ortiz, and her friend, Cheryl Mallory, in Kenner. Authorities said Ortiz, who was out of the country when the killings took place, paid someone to fatally stab his wife for her $900,000 life insurance payout. 
• Emmett Taylor killed 77-year-old Marie Toscano during the 1997 robbery of Marrero pharmacy where she worked, according to prosecutors.

Livingston

• James Copeland raped and killed 11-year-old Joseph Cook Owen in Livingston Parish in 1979, investigators said.

Morehouse

• Lee Roy Odenbaugh was sentenced to death for killing his wife, Sondra Porter Odenbaugh, and her mother, Jessie Mae Porter, in 2006. Court records indicate he murdered the women using a shotgun after police had responded to a fight earlier in the day at their home in Bastrop. Lee Roy Odenbaugh had also wounded his step-daughter in the shooting.

Natchitoches

• Tracy Lee, a U.S. Army service member stationed at Fort Polk, was convicted in the 1985 death of 15-year-old Rohn Blackstone. Police said Lee broke into a Natchitoches home, shot and killed the teenager, then sexually assaulted his mother and sister.

Orleans

• Clifford Deruise faces the death penalty for two murders in 1995. Police say he fatally shot Gary Booker, 20, after Booker declined his request for money. Two days later, investigators say Deruise attempted to carjack a woman and her baby. As she drove away, Deruise fired his gun at the car, wounding the woman and killing her son, 11-month-old Etienne Nachampassak.
• Antoinette Frank, a former New Orleans police officer, is the only woman on death row in Louisiana. She was found guilty in the 1995 murders of her NOPD partner, Ronald Williams II, and sibling restaurant owners Ha and Cuong Vu. Rogers Lacaze, Frank’s co-conspirator in the botched armed robbery of Kim Ahn Noodles, was sentenced to life in prison.
• Clarence Harris Jr. faces execution for the 1993 shooting death of Katie Carlin, who police said Harris tried to kidnap with her 11-year-old daughter. Police said Harris shot Carlin as she tried to run away, and he took the young girl to his apartment and raped her. Harris later released the girl in her neighborhood.

Ouachita

• Authorities say Jimmie Duncan sexually abused and drowned Chaley Oliveaux, his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter. Lawyers for Duncan want his conviction thrown out, saying it was based on unreliable bitemark evidence. The same experts who provided the evidence in Duncan’s case were involved in nine others that have since been overturned, including three men facing the death penalty. 
• Winthrop Eaton was found guilty of murdering Monroe pastor Lea Joyner in 1985. The current pastor of Joyner’s church has said Eaton should not be executed.
• Willie Tart faces the death penalty for the 1989 murders of jewelry store owners William and Lillian Quenan, ages 70 and 66, respectively, at the couple’s home in Bastrop. Police said the couple had been bound and stabbed several times.

Rapides

• Darrell James Robinson had his death sentence reinstated in December for the 1996 murders of four people, including 11-month-old Nicholas Kelly, in the Poland community. The other victims were the boy’s mother, Maureen Kelly and siblings Billy Lambert, 50, and Carol Hooper, 54. Court records indicate Robinson moved in with Lambert after the two had met during a Veterans Administration program for recovering alcoholics.    
• Larry Roy was convicted in the 1993 double murder of his ex-girlfriend’s ex-husband, Freddie Richard Jr., and her elderly aunt, Rosetta Silas, in Cheneyville. A Rapides Parish judge issued a death warrant for Roy on Feb. 10, setting his execution date for March 29. But the warrant was withdrawn once District Attorney Phillip Terrell was made aware Roy had not exhausted all of his appeals.

St. Martin

• Scott Bourque was sentenced to death for the 1990 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Charlotte Perry, in Kaplan. Police said Perry’s mother was also shot and severely wounded in the attack.

St. James

• Glynn Juniors faces execution for the 1997 death of Albert “Butch” Robinson, 43, during a business robbery in Convent. Juniors’ accomplice, Ronald Williams, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was given a life sentence in exchange for testifying against Robinson. Both men were also accused of the subsequent murder of Jo Ann Elder at a LaPlace seafood business and the attempted murder of a Reserve convenience store owner.

St. John the Baptist

• Kyle Joekel was one of three extremists charged with the 2012 murders of St. John Parish Sheriff’s deputies Brandon Neilson and Jeremy Triche at a LaPlace mobile home park. Joekel was determined to have shot the deputies at point blank range. Father-and-son Terry and Brian Smith were also linked to the shootings. Terry Smith, who has denied firing a gun at all, is serving a life sentence for rape in an unrelated case. 

St. Mary

• Donald Leger was having an affair with a married woman who he bound and kidnapped in 2001 after she told Leger she was going back to her husband. The woman escaped from Leger’s van before he could carry out a threat to kill her, and he went into the wrong house looking for her. Police said Leger shot Troy Salone and his wife after they told Leger they didn’t know who he was seeking. Salone’s wife survived the shooting.

St. Tammany

• Barring action from the U.S. Supreme Court, Jessie Hoffman will be executed Tuesday for the 1996 murder of Mary “Molly” Elliot, 29. Authorities said Hoffman kidnapped Elliot after she left work in downtown New Orleans. He then drove Elliot to a remote area near the Pearl River, raped and shot her. A hunter found her nude body the next day. 
• Jesse Montejo was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of Louis Ferrari, 61. Prosecutors said Montejo had collaborated to burglarize Ferrari’s home in Slidell with Jerry Moore, who had worked as an electrician for Ferrari at his dry cleaning business. Moore was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. 

Webster

• Donald Wright and his girlfriend, Lora Moseley, were convicted for the 1999 murder of Moseley’s 6-year-old daughter, Heather White. Authorities said Wright physically and sexually abused the girl in the presence of Mosely, who failed to report him. Wright was sentenced to death, while Moseley was given a penalty of life in prison.  

West Baton Rouge

• Michael Garcia of Michigan was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Michael Millican, 32, near a Port Allen gas station. Police said Garcia and two accomplices robbed Millican and his girlfriend of $30. Before he was stabbed to death, investigators said Millican was restrained and beaten while forced to watch and his girlfriend being raped repeatedly.

West Carroll

• Sedwric Clark faces execution for the 2000 deaths of his 8-year-old daughter, Mariah Barnes, and her great-grandmother, Bertha Lee Anderson, 68, in Oak Grove. Investigators say Clark had kidnapped and attempted to rape his daughter before murdering her and leaving her body in Richland Parish.

West Feliciana

• David Brown was part of the Angola 5, a group of five inmates who took three correctional officers hostage at Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1999. Capt. David Knapps was killed in their unsuccessful escape attempt.
• Another member of the Angola 5, Jeffrey Clark, faces the death penalty for Knapps’ murder. Clark was in prison for life for killing his co-worker, Andrew Cheswick, at a Baton Rouge lounge in 1984.