NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice

Press Release: 19 Years Without an Execution: North Carolinians to Hold Vigil, Envision a Future Without the Death Penalty

Henry McCollum, a North Carolina death row exoneree, placing signs with the names of the 43 people who have been executed by North Carolina in the modern death penalty era.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

15 August 2025

Contact: Liv Perkins-Davenport, Director of Communications, (919) 404-7409

RALEIGH – On Saturday, August 16, the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty will host We Keep Us Alive: An Afternoon to Remember Those Executed & Envision a Future of Abolition at 2:00 PM at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh. 

The gathering will feature creative workshops, a spoken word debut by poet Nick Courmon, and music by Britton Buchanan and Pastor Dewey & Lynne Williams. Attendees will hear from people directly impacted by the death penalty. The event will conclude with a march to Central Prison to hold vigil for the 43 people executed there between 1984 and 2006.

This event marks 19 years since North Carolina’s last execution, when the state killed Samuel Flippen by lethal injection. Despite the pause, North Carolina continues to sentence people to death and maintains the 5th largest death row in the country, with 121 people currently facing execution. 

“The death penalty was created to punish people of color, poor people, and people with intellectual disabilities. It protects no one,” said Noel Nickle, Executive Director of NCADP. “We’re envisioning and creating the future we want to see: a North Carolina without capital punishment.”

The event follows a major victory in the movement to end the death penalty. In December 2024, Governor Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of 15 people on death row, the largest clemency action in state history, after sustained advocacy from NCCADP and its partners. 

Among those attending is Kristin Stapleford, whose uncle was executed in 2002. “I promised my Uncle Ernest Basden that I would not give up the fight against the death penalty,” Stapleford said. “The justice system is not just or fair when it comes to the death penalty. It’s a place of healing for me to gather at events like these. In my uncle’s name I press on.”

We Keep Us Alive is free and open to the public. To RSVP or learn more, visit bit.ly/WeKeepUsAlive. 

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The NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP.org) is a grassroots collective of 23 partner organizations committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice in North Carolina. Contact Liv Perkins-Davenport at liv@nccadp.org or (919) 404-7409 for more information.