Indiana, Florida and Alabama each carry out execution on same Thursday
Three states put men to death by lethal injection on the same day, the second such day in the United States this year, as scrutiny of execution methods continues.
Indiana, Florida and Alabama each carried out an execution on Thursday, making it only the second day this year on which three states have put people to death. The lethal injections followed a rare pattern in a country where capital punishment is carried out unevenly across states, and they came amid renewed questions about how such procedures are conducted.
In Indiana, Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m. at the Michigan City prison. He had been convicted in connection with a 2010 house fire that killed two children, ages 5 and 8. Weisheit's defense had cited head injuries and a history of mental health problems, and had asked for an additional brain scan. Gov. Mike Braun denied that request as well as a petition for commutation. State officials said they were confident the execution was carried out humanely, even as a separate concern arose over the drugs to be used, which came from a pharmacy facing a hearing before a licensing board.
In Florida, Jesse Guardado, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. at Florida State Prison. Guardado was convicted of killing a 75-year-old woman who had helped him find work and housing. His execution matched the state's record of 19 executions in a single year. Florida carried out 19 of the 47 executions across the United States in 2025, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a series of death warrants since then. Florida also executed two men on the same day in July.
In Alabama, Michael Taylor, 54, was executed by lethal injection. Taylor had been convicted of killing an older couple in their home in 1991 during a robbery. He had requested nitrogen gas as the method of execution, but a judge allowed the injection to proceed over objections. Gov. Kay Ivey declined to commute his sentence to life in prison. Opponents of the execution argued that Taylor was 19 and immature at the time of the crime. The victims' family voiced frustration at the 35 years that passed before the sentence was carried out.
The day's executions followed the first triple-execution day of 2025 on Aug. 13, when Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama carried out executions. Before that, the country had last recorded a day with three executions on Jan. 7, 2010. The timing also comes after a failed attempt in Tennessee in late September, when Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital. That case renewed scrutiny of lethal injection procedures across the country. Separately, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has moved to commute all 548 death sentences in the state, although some commutations require a recommendation from the California Supreme Court.
Source: foxnews.com
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