A death row inmate in Arizona is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday for a deadly arson attack that claimed a man’s life more than two decades ago.
Leroy Dean McGill, 63, faces execution at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence for the murder of Charles Perez in July 2002.
Officials say McGill doused Perez and his girlfriend, Nova Banta, with gasoline before igniting a match while the couple was sitting on a couch in a Phoenix apartment on July 13 that year. The attack came after Perez and Banta had confronted McGill about allegedly taking a firearm from their residence. McGill had been awake for multiple days while under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the incident.
While Banta managed to survive the assault, Perez succumbed to his injuries.
The execution would mark the 13th carried out nationwide this year, with additional executions planned in Tennessee and Florida on Thursday.
During McGill’s trial, Banta gave testimony describing how McGill warned her and Perez against speaking negatively about others. Officials reported that McGill then set the victims ablaze before they had a chance to reply.
Both victims fled the burning apartment. A resident helped extinguish the flames on Banta using a blanket, though she sustained severe third-degree burns across most of her body. Perez later died at a medical facility after enduring what prosecutors called excruciating suffering.
Banta positively identified McGill as her attacker during court proceedings.
In October 2004, a jury took less than 60 minutes to find McGill guilty of murder in Perez’s death. Additional convictions included attempted murder for the attack on Banta, arson charges, and endangering other residents who had to evacuate when flames spread to neighboring units.
Defense attorneys sought a lighter sentence by highlighting McGill’s history of childhood trauma, mental disabilities, and psychological development issues. However, the jury ultimately imposed capital punishment.
Earlier this year, McGill’s legal team attempted one final effort to have his sentence reduced, but a trial court denied the request. The state’s highest court also refused to delay the scheduled execution.
McGill turned down an interview opportunity with The Associated Press and chose not to pursue clemency.
Arizona most recently carried out executions in 2025, putting to death Richard Kenneth Djerf for murdering four Phoenix family members in 1993 and Aaron Gunches for the 2002 fatal shooting of his girlfriend’s former husband.
The state performed three executions in 2022 after an almost eight-year pause caused by challenges securing lethal injection drugs and backlash over a problematic 2014 execution. During that execution, Joseph Wood received 15 injections of a two-drug mixture over two hours, causing him to make repeated snorting sounds and gasp hundreds of times before dying.
Current execution procedures involve administering two doses of the sedative pentobarbital, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
The state currently houses 109 inmates awaiting execution.
