By Salma El-Sakka
Indiana executed Jeffrey Weisheit early Thursday, marking the first of three lethal injections scheduled across the United States on the same day, with Florida and Alabama also planning executions later.
Indiana execution
Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m. at the state prison in Michigan City, according to corrections spokesperson Noelle Russell. He had no final words. Weisheit acknowledged killing his girlfriend’s two children in a 2010 house fire in the Evansville area but had sought clemency from Governor Mike Braun, who declined. His attorneys had also requested brain scans to assess head injuries and mental health issues, and challenged the source of the lethal drugs, but those efforts failed. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said the execution brought “long-awaited justice for Alyssa Lynch and her brother Caleb.”
Florida execution planned
Florida is set to carry out its 19th execution of the year on Thursday, matching a 2025 record under Governor Ron DeSantis. Jesse Guardado, 64, was convicted of fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman in her Walton County home in 2004 and stealing her jewelry and cash to buy drugs. A court appeal was denied. The execution would be the second time this year that three people are put to death on the same day in the U.S.
Alabama execution planned
Alabama plans to execute Michael Taylor, 54, by lethal injection after a judge ruled the state’s nitrogen gas method unconstitutional. Taylor, who was 19 when he beat two elderly people to death with a metal bar during a 1991 robbery in Gadsden, had selected nitrogen gas as his execution method years ago. His attorneys objected to the last-minute switch, but a judge ruled against them. Governor Kay Ivey declined calls to commute his sentence. Alabama previously executed Kenneth Smith by nitrogen asphyxiation in 2024, an episode witnesses described as excruciating.
Renewed scrutiny of death penalty
The cluster of executions comes amid renewed scrutiny of capital punishment following the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee in September, where she survived two massive doses of pentobarbital. Courts have rejected efforts to halt other executions since then. Death penalty opponents argue the system is flawed, while states continue to carry out lethal injections.
