Outgoing governor commutes 15 death sentences on final day in office: report

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued 15 commutations on his final day in office Tuesday, sending those sentenced to die instead to life in prison without parole.

NBC News reported that among the prisoners "was convicted murderer Hasson Bacote, a Black man who had challenged his sentence under the Racial Justice Act of 2009, a groundbreaking state law that allows condemned inmates to seek resentencing if they can show racial bias played a role in their cases."

Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr was already reconsidering Bacote's 2009 death sentence case.

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“These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a Governor can make and the death penalty is the most severe sentence that the state can impose,” Cooper said in a statement released with the names.

“After thorough review, reflection, and prayer, I concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring they will spend the rest of their lives in prison," he continued.

He claimed that there was "no single factor" in determining who would get the reprieve. However, he noted that one of those factors was the "potential influence of race, such as the race of the defendant and victim, composition of the jury pool and the final jury."

It by no means eliminated all of those on death row in North Carolina, which stood at 136 prisoners. No one has been put to death in North Carolina since 2006.

Other inmates are:

Iziah Barden, 67, convicted in Sampson County in 1999; Nathan Bowie, 53, convicted in Catawba County in 1993; Rayford Burke, 66, convicted in Iredell County in 1993; Elrico Fowler, 49, convicted in Mecklenburg County in 1997; Cerron Hooks, 46, convicted in Forsyth County in 2000; Guy LeGrande, 65, convicted in Stanly County in 1996; James Little, 38, convicted in Forsyth County in 2008; Robbie Locklear, 52, convicted in Robeson County in 1996; Lawrence Peterson, 55, convicted in Richmond County in 1996; William Robinson, 41, convicted in Stanly County in 2011; Christopher Roseboro, 60, convicted in Gaston County in 1997; Darrell Strickland, 66, convicted in Union County in 1995; Timothy White, 47, convicted in Forsyth County in 2000; Vincent Wooten, 52, convicted in Pitt County in 1994.

President Joe Biden commuted 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before the Christmas holiday.