Bigger India
Execution Delayed in Pennsylvania for Notorious Killer Raghunandan Yandamuri
The Pennsylvania Board of Pardons would have to determine if Yandamuri’s death sentence can be commuted to a life sentence.
Raghunandan Yandamuri, the first Indian American on death row, was not put to death by lethal injection on Feb. 23, his scheduled execution date, as the state of Pennsylvania has a moratorium on the death penalty since 2015.
Pennsylvania District Court Judge Petrese Tucker issued a stay of execution for Yandamuri Jan. 16, based on a request by the killer, who – during court proceedings – told a judge he wanted to die for the crimes he had committed, and asked that the death sentence be imposed upon him. He received two death sentences, which he later appealed but lost last April.