By Islam El-Sakka
Indiana, Florida, and Alabama are scheduled to carry out executions on Thursday, marking the second time this year that three people will be put to death on the same day in the United States.
Indiana: Jeffrey Weisheit
Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was convicted of setting a 2010 house fire that killed his girlfriend's two children, aged 8 and 5, in the Evansville area. His lawyers sought brain scans to support claims of head injuries and mental health issues, and requested Republican Gov. Mike Braun to commute the sentence to life in prison. Braun declined both requests. Weisheit also challenged the state's lethal injection drugs sourced from a pharmacy facing a disciplinary hearing, but the Indiana Department of Correction expressed confidence in its ability to carry out the execution humanely.
Florida: Jesse Guardado
Jesse Guardado, 64, confessed to fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman in her Walton County home in 2004 and stealing valuables to support a drug habit. A federal appeals court ruled in 2024 that he received a full and fair hearing during the death penalty phase. This execution would be Florida's 19th this year under Gov. Ron DeSantis, matching a state record set in 2025. DeSantis has stated his goal is to bring justice to families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.
Alabama: Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor, 54, faces execution for the 1989 beating deaths of an older couple during a robbery in Gadsden. He was 19 at the time. Death penalty opponents urged Gov. Kay Ivey to commute his sentence to life in prison, citing his youth and immaturity at the time of the crime. Ivey declined. The state plans to execute Taylor by lethal injection after a judge declared the nitrogen gas method unconstitutional, despite Taylor having selected nitrogen gas as his preferred method years earlier.
