A Tennessee death row inmate was executed by lethal injection Thursday, marking the first time in 16 years that three inmates have been put to death on the same day in the United States. Anthony Hines, 66, was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Before his execution, Hines directed his last words to his son, Dennis Jenkins, who was present as a witness. "Tell my son 'hello,'" Hines said. He last saw his son when the boy was three years old, and the two had recently reconnected. Jenkins stated he hoped Hines experienced severe pain for the 1985 murder of his mother, Catherine Jean Jenkins, 54.
Hines was convicted of fatally stabbing Jenkins, a mother of four, while she worked as a motel maid in Kingston Springs. Her son described her as having only a plastic spray bottle to defend herself during the attack. Hines had unsuccessfully appealed his sentence, citing concerns about the executioner's competence.
The executions of Hines, along with inmates in Oklahoma and Alabama, occurred on the same day. Officials noted that such triple executions are highly unusual, with double or triple executions typically being a matter of coincidental timing rather than a planned occurrence. The Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robin Maher described the triple execution day as "very unusual."