The state of Arizona is scheduled to execute death row inmate Aaron Gunches next week, the first execution in the state since 2022. Gunches, convicted of the 2002 shooting death of Ted Price, did not request a reprieve or sentence commutation at a recent Arizona Board of Executive Clemency hearing, which he did not attend, as stated by 12 News.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Gunches, who was convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend’s ex-husband Ted Price in 2002 and shooting an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper the following year, has maintained his decision to waive clemency. Representing himself, Gunches previously petitioned to expedite his execution, describing his death sentence as "long overdue," though the request was denied by Arizona's highest court. A signed waiver from Gunches, presented at the board’s on Monday meeting, confirmed his continued decision to decline the clemency process, which he initially waived in 2022, as mentioned by 12 News.
Arizona's execution process resumed after a review of the state's death penalty protocol, initiated by the new Democratic Attorney General, led to a temporary suspension. The review's leader was dismissed in November. Previous executions faced issues with IV insertion during lethal injections. With 112 inmates on death row, legislators are considering a 2026 voter referendum to introduce firing squads as an additional execution method, alongside lethal injection and the gas chamber for those sentenced before November 23, 1992, as reported by 12 News.
