PHOENIX, ARIZONA — The Arizona Supreme Court issued a warrant to execute 63-year-old Leroy Dean McGill on May 20, 2026, for the 2002 murder of Charles Perez. McGill was convicted of first-degree murder in 2004 for throwing a cup of gasoline and a lit match at Perez and Nova Banta as they sat on a sofa in a north Phoenix apartment.

Perez died in the attack, while Banta survived with third-degree burns covering three-quarters of her body. In her trial testimony, Banta identified McGill as her attacker.

Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before convicting McGill in 2004 of first-degree murder, attempted murder, arson, and endangerment. The jury returned a death sentence for McGill after his lawyers argued for leniency by presenting evidence of child abuse, mental impairment, and psychological immaturity.

McGill's lawyers asked the Arizona Supreme Court to delay issuing an execution warrant to litigate claims that jurors received incorrect instructions during the sentencing stage. Prosecutors opposed the request, stating McGill had exhausted his appeals and that the defense's latest legal push came after the state had asked for the execution warrant. "We also acknowledge the profound loss for the victims and their families and wish them peace," said Jennifer Garcia, a lawyer representing McGill.

The execution would be the first use of the death penalty in Arizona in 2026. Arizona used the death penalty twice in 2025 with the executions of Richard Kenneth Djerf for the 1993 killings of four members of a Phoenix family and of Aaron Gunches for the 2002 fatal shooting of his girlfriend's ex-husband.

The state carried out three executions in 2022 following a nearly eight-year hiatus due to criticism of a botched 2014 execution and 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. Perez and Banta had accused McGill of stealing a gun from their apartment before the attack.