Leroy McGill: Arizona man convicted of 'especially cruel' murder executed

PHOENIX - On Wednesday morning, Arizona carried out the death sentence of a convicted murderer. Leroy Dean McGill was put to death by lethal injection at 10 a.m. on May 20 for a crime prosecutors called "especially cruel."

Arizona scheduled to execute Leroy Dean McGill

Leroy Dean McGill is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 20 at 10 a.m. for a 2002 apartment murder that prosecutors called "especially cruel." FOX 10's Danielle Miller has more.

McGill's final meal consisted of onion rings, bread and butter, green salad and chocolate cake. His final statement was, "I just want to thank everyone for being so accommodating and nice."

McGill was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m.

The backstory:

The now-63-year-old was convicted on several counts related to the 2002 murder of Charles Perez. Court records show McGill threw gasoline on Perez and Perez's girlfriend, Nova Banta, while they were sitting on a couch in an apartment. He lit a match, setting them on fire. Banta survived the attack, and Perez died. Another person in the apartment was not hurt and came to Banta's aid. McGill had accused the couple of stealing a gun from the apartment before the attack.

In 2004, a jury found McGill guilty of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, arson, and endangerment. He exhausted his appeals in 2022, and the state filed a warrant of execution earlier this year.

Leroy McGill

What they're saying:

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell released the following statement on Wednesday morning. 

"After more than two decades, justice was finally served for Charles Perez and the woman who survived this horrific attack. What Leroy McGill did — pouring gasoline on the victims and setting them on fire — was among the cruelest acts imaginable. My thoughts are with the family of Charles Perez and the survivor, who has lived with the physical and emotional scars of that night for nearly 24 years. May this bring them some measure of peace."

Dig deeper:

This was the first execution in Arizona in 2026. The state carried out one in 2025 and three in 2022. That followed an eight-year hiatus, brought on by issues obtaining execution drugs and criticism over an execution in 2014 where it took more than two hours to put an inmate to death.

Arizona currently has 109 inmates on death row.