Alabama carried out its first execution of 2026 on Thursday, putting Jeremy Williams to death by lethal injection for the 2021 rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland. Williams, 42, had his execution expedited to avoid harsh prison conditions, according to Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor.
Prosecutors stated Williams sexually abused and strangled Kamarie after allegedly offering her mother $2,500 for the child to perform a sex act. He filmed the assault and concealed the girl's body in his duplex. Kamarie's naked body was found in Williams's home, hidden beneath a car tarp with a rope around her neck. During his final words, Williams stated he had been forgiven for his sins. The district attorney described Kamarie's final moments as "horrific" and stated the child "didn't die in peace."
Williams was also a suspect in the 2005 death of his infant daughter in Alaska, though charges were not filed until 2022. Kamarie's mother is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to sex trafficking. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commented that the nature of Williams's crimes underscores the necessity of the death penalty.
Williams's execution was part of the first triple execution in the United States in 16 years. On the same day, Tennessee executed 66-year-old Byron Black Hines for the 1985 murder of motel maid Catherine Jean Jenkins. Hines raped, robbed, and fatally stabbed Jenkins in a motel room and was sentenced to death in 1986.
In Oklahoma, 70-year-old Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was executed for the 2003 murder of his girlfriend, Olimpia Fisher. Fisher was shot twice in the eye by Cuesta-Rodriguez as she attempted to leave him. Cuesta-Rodriguez expressed remorse for the killing and did not seek clemency, stating he wanted to pay for his actions.
These executions mark the first time three inmates have been put to death on the same day since January 7, 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas carried out executions. In 2025, 11 states conducted executions, and six states have carried out executions so far in 2026.