US carries out 25 executions this year as death penalty trends in nation held steady

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of executions in the U.S. remained near historic lows in 2024 and was mostly carried out in a small group of states. But the report by the Death Penalty Information Center also highlights that the death penalty remains entrenched in a small group of states. One of these states, Alabama, became the first to use nitrogen gas as an execution method. The center’s report was released on Thursday, the same day that Oklahoma conducted the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year. The report says four states carried out 76% of exe­cu­tions this year. In 2024, there were 26 new death sen­tences, marking the tenth con­sec­u­tive year with few­er than 50 peo­ple sen­tenced to death.