Arizona court sets May 20 execution for prisoner convicted of killing man by setting him on fire

PHOENIX (AP) — A May 20 execution has been scheduled for an Arizona man convicted of murder for fatally setting a man on fire during a 2002 attack, marking what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty this year.

The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday issued a warrant to execute 63-year-old Leroy Dean McGill, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Charles Perez. Authorities said McGill threw a cup of gasoline and a lit match at Perez and another person, Nova Banta, as they were sitting on a sofa in an apartment in north Phoenix.

Banta survived but suffered third-degree burns over three-quarters of her body. In her trial testimony, Banta identified McGill as her attacker.

Authorities say McGill had been accused by Perez and Banta of stealing a gun from their apartment before the attack.

Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before convicting McGill in 2004 in Perez's death, attempted murder for attacking Banta, arson and endangerment involving people who escaped without injuries when the fire forced them to flee the apartment and a nearby unit where the flames had spread.

McGill's lawyers argued for leniency by presenting evidence about abuse he suffered as a child as well as mental impairment and psychological immaturity, but the jury ultimately returned the death sentence.

Lawyers for McGill had asked the state's highest court to hold off on deciding whether to issue an execution warrant as they aimed to litigate several claims, including that jurors were given incorrect instructions during the trial’s sentencing stage.

Prosecutors opposed the request, saying McGill had exhausted his appeals and that the latest legal push by defense lawyers came after the state had already asked the court for the execution warrant. “We will continue to stand by Leroy and recognize the power of rehabilitation and the growth he has shown by building a positive and meaningful life in prison, despite our disappointment in the court’s decision to issue the warrant of execution,” Jennifer Garcia, McGill’s lawyer, said in a statement. “We also acknowledge the profound loss for the victims and their families and wish them peace.”

Arizona used the death penalty twice in 2025 with the executions of Richard Kenneth Djerf in the 1993 killings of four members of a Phoenix family and of Aaron Gunches in the 2002 fatal shooting of his girlfriend's ex-husband.

The state carried out three executions in 2022 following a nearly eight-year hiatus brought on by criticism that a 2014 execution was botched and because of difficulties obtaining drugs for execution.

In the 2014 execution, Joseph Wood was injected with 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours, leading him to snort repeatedly and gasp hundreds of times before he died.

Arizona currently has 108 prisoners on death row.