Jerry Givens

Jerry Bronson Givens (December 3, 1952 – April 13, 2020) was the chief executioner of Virginia from 1982 until 1999, during which he executed 62 people, including two of the Briley Brothers. He spent most of his career in Virginia's correctional system, and was initially a supporter of capital punishment. However, beginning in 1999, he served a four-year prison sentence for money laundering and perjury, the latter of which is a felony in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This led to the termination of his career at the Virginia Department of Corrections and the loss of his title as Chief Executioner of Virginia. This experience, together with the revelation that Earl Washington Jr. was innocent, transformed Givens into an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, which he spent the rest of his life campaigning against. He died from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early life Givens was born December 3, 1952, in Richmond, Virginia, the youngest of his working-class parents' four children.

Chief executioner In 1982, Virginia's chief executioner retired, and Givens was promoted to the position. During the next seventeen years, he executed 62 people—25 by electric chair and, beginning in 1994, 37 by lethal injection. He found the latter method more upsetting, Among those he executed were the spree killers Linwood and James Briley. Eventually, Givens turned against the death penalty.

Death In mid-March 2020, Givens began to feel sick. It is thought that he potentially contracted coronavirus at a revival at Cedar Street Baptist Church in early March. At least one revival attendee later tested positive for the virus. He was initially diagnosed with pneumonia and given antibiotics, but his condition worsened. He was then admitted to the hospital, where he tested positive for coronavirus and was put on a ventilator. Givens died April 13, 2020, at a hospital in Richmond, from complications of COVID-19. He was 67.