First Indian-origin death-row prisoner in US to be executed next month

The India Observer January 11, 2018 0 Comments #IndianAmericans, #Pennsylvania, #RaghunandanYandamuri

The date of execution for the US’ first Indian-American prisoner on death-row has been set for February 23. Convicted of killing a 10 month baby and her 61 year old Indian grandmother, Raghunandan Yandamuri, 32, was given death penalty in 2014. It was seen as part of a botched kidnapping-for-ransom plot.

Yandamuri’s execution date has been set for February 23 by local correctional authorities.

Yandamuri is the first Indian-American to face death penalty.

Yandamuri, who hails from Andhra Pradesh and had come to the US on an H-1B visa, is an advanced degree holder in electrical and computer science engineering.

Following his conviction, he asked that death penalty be imposed upon him. Later he appealed his sentence, but lost his appeal last April.

However, he is likely to get a reprieve because of a 2015 moratorium on death penalty by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

According to the report, Wolf imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2015. State officials are awaiting the results of a study conducted by the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment, before moving forward with any executions.

Pennsylvania has not seen any executions in the last nearly 20 years. Since 1976, three persons have been executed in the States between 1995 and 1999.