Democrats walk out of vote as NC Senate calls for alternate methods of execution

Avi Bajpai, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Sep 22, 2025

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A Republican-drafted crime bill introduced in response to the fatal stabbing on Charlotte’s light rail last month appeared to have bipartisan support on Monday until an amendment seeking to resume executions in North Carolina prompted Democrats to walk out.

Senate lawmakers spent hours debating legislation on Monday, and early in the day, debate over the GOP’s crime bill seemed to indicate that many Democrats were on board with the bill, with some saying on the floor that they intended to support it when time came for a vote.

When lawmakers returned to the bill after passing other legislation Monday evening, Senate leader Phil Berger introduced an amendment that would direct the N.C. Department of Adult Correction to implement alternative methods of execution used in other states if North Carolina’s only legally allowed method on the books right now, lethal injection, was ruled by courts to be unconstitutional, or was otherwise unable to be administered.

Executions have been halted in North Carolina since 2006. One of the most recent attempts to restart them came earlier this year when state House members called for authorizing the use of the electric chair and the firing squad, but their bill failed to clear a key legislative deadline.

Berger indicated earlier this month that the death penalty would be a part of the policies Republicans would put forward in response to the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line on Aug. 22.

Apart from a provision reducing the amount of time allowed for death penalty appeals, however, the crime bill as it was released on Sunday did not contain any measures directly dealing with trying to restart executions.

Democrats strongly criticized Berger’s decision to include the amendment late in the day Monday, after hours of debate on the bill. Multiple Democrats said they had planned to vote for the bill, but would not do so now, due to their opposition to the death penalty generally, or how this bill would seek to change and speed up the process for appeals.

Several Democrats walked out of the chamber, refusing to vote on the bill. It ultimately passed in a 28-8 vote, and now goes to the House, which is expected to take it up Tuesday.

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