Arizona prosecutors announced Wednesday that death penalty proceedings have resumed against an inmate convicted of first-degree murder in Yavapai County. The move follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s reinstatement of the inmate’s death sentence, overturning a lower court’s order for a new sentencing trial, according to state officials.
The inmate at the center of the resumed death penalty proceedings is George Kayer, who was convicted of killing a man during a 1994 robbery in Yavapai County, according to court records and reporting summarized by the Indiana Lawyer. Kayer’s death sentence had been overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered a new sentencing trial. However, the U.S. Supreme Court recently reinstated the sentence, emphasizing judicial deference to state court decisions under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, state officials said.
Of those, 21 to 23 inmates have completed the appeals process and are considered eligible for execution, according to a 2025 report by the Arizona Capitol Times and legislative briefings.
Arizona prosecutors confirmed that Kayer has exhausted all appeals, clearing the way for the state to proceed with execution protocols. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which oversees capital cases, noted that Kayer’s case is among more than 100 inmates currently on death row in the state.
Arizona’s death penalty framework requires that a defendant convicted of first-degree murder must have at least one statutorily enumerated aggravating circumstance proven in court. The sentencing then hinges on whether mitigating circumstances are deemed insufficient to warrant leniency. Since a 2002 legislative change prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Ring v. Arizona, juries—not judges—determine the presence of aggravating and mitigating factors and whether to impose the death penalty, officials explained.
Executions in Arizona are carried out by lethal injection, the state’s primary method since November 15, 1992, though inmates sentenced before that date may choose lethal gas instead, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. Executions are performed at the Central Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. Male death-row inmates are housed at the Rincon Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson, while female inmates reside at the Lumley Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville near Goodyear.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who served before the current administration, previously stated that Arizona had settled a lawsuit challenging its lethal injection procedures, a move he said brought the state closer to resuming executions. Since then, Arizona carried out its first execution under Attorney General Kris Mayes in March 2025, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell was reported as a possible candidate to oversee the next execution, though the Attorney General’s Office declined to specify its selections.
Arizona’s death row population has remained relatively stable, with 110 to 115 inmates reported in various stages of appellate and post-conviction review as of mid-2021 to early 2025. However, only a smaller subset has exhausted all legal remedies, making them eligible for execution. The Department of Corrections excludes inmates pending resentencing from the official death-row count and has removed birth dates from public records to protect inmates from identity theft and fraud.
The state’s capital punishment history dates back to its territorial days, with Dolores Moore recorded as the first executed individual. Before the national moratorium on executions imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, Arizona had carried out 108 executions, initially by hanging, then by gas chamber starting in 1934. The shift to lethal injection as the primary execution method began in 1992. Arizona had not conducted an execution since July 2014 until the recent resumption of capital punishment.
Legal safeguards remain in place for death row inmates, including prohibitions against executing individuals with intellectual disabilities. Arizona law requires that inmates be allowed to present additional evidence on intellectual disability in certain cases. If an inmate is found mentally incompetent to be executed, the death warrant is suspended. These provisions align with U.S. Supreme Court rulings and state statutes designed to ensure due process in capital cases.
The resumption of death penalty proceedings against Kayer follows these legal frameworks and procedural safeguards, with state officials indicating that the case will proceed according to Arizona law and court rulings. The Attorney General’s Office continues to oversee the selection and preparation of cases for execution from among the pool of inmates who have completed all appeals.
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