It wasn’t immediately clear whether Stein would sign the bill into law or veto it. Brown is charged with first-degree murder in state court and a federal count in connection with Zarutska’s death. More than 120 people are on death row in North Carolina, but an execution hasn’t been carried out since 2006. Capital punishment has been put on hold in North Carolina in part over legal challenges on the use of the injection drugs. State law and a stopgap spending measure have kept North Carolina government operating.