Juveniles and the death penalty Executions of juveniles began in 1642 with the execution of Thomas Graunger, from Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, his age was not stated in the reference. (Minimum Death Penalty Ages) Three hundred and fifty years later, Twenty-Three states have legalized the execu...

Mead Shumway of Nebraska, was convicted of the first degree murder of his employer's wife on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death by jury. His last words before his execution were: "I am an innocent man. May God forgive everyone who said anything against me." The next year, the v...