Washington, Feb 6 (IANS): The US state of Virginia is poised to abolish the death penalty as its legislature passed a landmark bill that would end capital punishment.

On Friday, the state House of Delegates approved a bill by a 57-41 vote to scrap death penalty in all cases, two days after the Virginia Senate passed a similar bill, reports Xinhua news agency.

Governor Ralph Northam said he looked forward to signing the bill after the Senate's vote on Wednesday.

The last execution in the state was carried out in July 2017, when William Morva was executed via lethal injection for murder.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has executed 113 offenders since 1976 and has just two remaining on death row as of January 2021.

According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, at least 22 US states and the District of Columbia do not have capital punishment.

The first recorded execution in the US took place in 1608 at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia.