Aaron Gunches dies by lethal injection in Arizona’s 1st execution since 2022

PHOENIX – Convicted killer Aaron Gunches died by lethal injection on Wednesday morning as Arizona carried out a death penalty for the first time in over two years.

Gunches was put to death by pentobarbital at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. The time of death was called as 10:33 a.m., officials said.

The last of a series of injections was completed at 10:19 a.m., according to John Barcello, deputy director of the Arizona Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

“By all accounts, the process went according to plan without any incident at all,” Barcello said.

Gunches declined to speak when asked if he had a final statement.

“Justice for Ted Price and his family was finally served,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said during a media briefing after the execution.

Karen Price, the victim’s sister, said afterward that justice has been served.

Gunches was convicted in 2008 for the 2002 murder of Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband, and went through a protracted legal process before becoming the first Arizona prisoner executed since Murray Hooper in November 2022.

Gunches was initially scheduled to be executed in April 2023, but Gov. Katie Hobbs ordered a review of the death penalty process after taking office earlier that year, effectively putting executions on hold.

The Roman Catholic Dioceses of Phoenix protested the execution on Tuesday night through a candlelight vigil.

What did Aaron Gunches do?

Authorities say Price’s ex-wife struck Price in the face with a phone during an argument at her apartment in November 2002, leaving him dazed. Price’s sister, Karen Price, said her brother had threatened to report his ex to child welfare authorities for doing drugs in front of their children.

Gunches arrived at the apartment later. He asked two other women who were there with his girlfriend to put Price in a car and drive him to a bus station. But when they realized they didn’t have enough money for a bus ticket, they instead drove into the desert outside Mesa, where Gunches shot Price, authorities said.

Gunches was arrested in January 2003 after being pulled over by an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper near the California state line. Gunches shot the trooper, who was saved by a bulletproof vest.

Bullet casings from that shooting matched ammunition that had been found near Price’s body, and Gunches was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in October 2003.

Last week, Gunches gave up his right to seek a reprieve from the Arizona Clemency Board.

After Wednesday’s execution, 111 Arizona inmates remain on death row.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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