By Islam El-Sakka
Three U.S. states — Indiana, Florida and Alabama — are scheduled to carry out executions on Thursday, marking the second time this year that three people would be put to death on the same day.
Indiana execution
In Indiana, Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, is set to be executed by lethal injection for the 2010 murders of his girlfriend's two children, ages 8 and 5, in a house fire near Evansville. Weisheit admitted to the killings, which prosecutors said stemmed from a deteriorating relationship. His attorneys sought a life sentence and requested brain scans to document a history of head injuries and mental health issues, but Republican Gov. Mike Braun denied both clemency and a stay. Weisheit's legal team 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 execution
Florida plans to execute Jesse Guardado, 64, who 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 Guardado received a “full and fair” hearing during the penalty phase. This would be Florida's 19th execution this year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, matching a record set in 2025. DeSantis has stated his goal is to deliver justice to families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.
Alabama execution
Alabama is set to execute Michael Taylor, 54, for the 1989 beating deaths of an older couple during a robbery in Gadsden. Taylor was 19 at the time and arrested an hour away in Birmingham with the victims' Cadillac. Death penalty opponents urged Republican Gov. Kay Ivey to commute his sentence to life in prison, citing his youth and immaturity at the time of the crime, but she declined. The state plans to use lethal injection after a judge declared the nitrogen gas method unconstitutional; Taylor had previously selected nitrogen gas, but a judge ruled against his objection to the switch.
National context
The three executions come amid renewed scrutiny of the death penalty following Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike, who survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital last month. Courts have rejected efforts to halt other executions since that incident. Florida has carried out more than half of the 32 total U.S. executions so far this year.
