Execution of Aaron Gunches today marks Arizona’s first in 2 years

By KVOA Staff

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    FLORENCE (KVOA) — The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry is set to execute inmate Aaron Gunches,53, by lethal injection this morning. The execution is scheduled for March 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence.

This is Arizona’s first execution in two years. In a Feb. 20 filing, Gunches said he didn’t want to be present at a hearing where he could have bid to not be executed.

The Arizona Supreme Court issued a death warrant for Gunches nearly two years ago, but the sentence wasn’t carried out because the state’s Democratic attorney general agreed not to pursue executions during a review of the state’s death penalty protocol. The review ended in November when Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs dismissed the retired federal magistrate judge she had appointed to examine execution procedures.

In 2008, Gunches was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2002 death of Ted Price, resulting in a death sentence. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on September 1, 2016.

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