Documenting and Analyzing the History of Federal Executions
John Avilez
John Avilez, a soldier stationed at Fort Mitchell, Alabama, killed fellow soldier, John Hart, in October 1825. The killing took place in Indian Territory, resulting in federal jurisdiction.
Avilez, who apparently was Cuban or Spanish, was described as unable to speak English.
He was convicted of murder in U.S. District Court in the spring of 1827 and sentenced to death on May 16, 1827. On appeal, he argued that a recent act of the Alabama state legislature gave the state jurisdiction over the case. The court rejected that argument.
John Avilez was hanged in Mobile, Alabama, on October 5, 1827.
I am a sociologist and death penalty scholar at the State University of New York at Geneseo. I am also a Pittsburgh native. My present research focuses on the history of the death penalty in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pa.
This website is dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and sharing information about all Allegheny County cases in which a death sentence was imposed.
Please share any questions or comments, errors or omissions, or other matters of interest related to these cases or to the broader history of the death penalty in Allegheny County.
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The Federal Death Penalty Project 