Virginia’s f
Death Penalty ALTERNATIVES
TO THE DEATH PENALTY
Key Facts:
¢ Virginia has executed 111 people since 1982, third behind Texas and Oklahoma in the num-
ber of people executed since 1973.
« Since 1973, 155 people on death row have been exonerated while 1,422 have been executed.
That is one death row exoneration for every nine executions!
« Just days before Earl Washington Jr. was to be executed, Virginia allowed DNA evidence to
be examined which proved his innocence. However, the vast majority of capital cases have
no biological evidence to test.
« A person is three times more likely to be sentenced to death in Virginia when the victim is
white than when the victim is black (JLARC).
« Murder convictions in Virginia rural and suburban jurisdictions are twice as likely to end in
the death penalty in as in urban jurisdictions.
Virginians are losing their appetite for the death penalty:
« In the past 5-10 people to death each year in Virginia and as many as 14 people were executed
annually. However, in the last five years it has executed only three people.
« No jury in Virginia has imposed a death sentence in over four years.
Upcoming Cases Likely to End in Executions:
Ricky Jovan Gray
Ricky Gray was sentenced to death for the murders of Kathryn and Bryan Harvey and their
young daughters, Stella, and Ruby. Gray was so deeply under the influence of crack, that
he could not recall the crimes.
His accomplice, Ray Dandridge, was allowed to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty
by blaming Gray for almost all of the crimes against the Harveys. Jurors heard only
Dandridge's side of who was responsible for the deaths of the Harvey family.
Gray had a deeply disturbing childhood. He and his sister were neglected by his parents and
sexually abused on a regular basis by their older brother. Ricky and his sister were locked-
up for long periods of time, made to perform sex acts on adults and one another, and left
unattended at home and in automobiles on streets and in alleyways.
Ivan Teleguz
No one disputes that Ivan Teleguz did not kill Stephanie Sipes. The man who did kill
Stephanie, Michael Hetrick, is serving a life sentence, and Hetrick's accomplice is
scheduled to be release from prison in 2018. Both men faced possible death sentences
until they agreed to testify against Teleguz.
The two men testified that Ivan hired them to kill Stephanie so that Ivan could avoid
making payments to support their two year-old son. But the death of one parent does not
relieve the other of child support, and Teleguz had made payments without complaint.
