Florida, Alabama, and Indiana are scheduled to execute death row inmates on Thursday, marking the second time in 2026 that three executions will take place on the same day across the United States. The first instance occurred on August 13, when Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Alabama carried out executions on the same day.
Florida is preparing for its 19th execution of the year, potentially matching its record from 2025. Alabama is set to conduct its third execution of 2026, while Indiana will carry out its first.
In Florida, Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled to be executed. He pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman in 2004 to support his drug addiction. His execution is proceeding despite calls from advocacy groups like Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which urged the state to halt it, citing Guardado's remorse and his own history of childhood trauma.
Florida has seen an increase in executions since 2025 under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The state carried out a record 19 executions in 2025, representing approximately 40% of the national total. This year, Florida has accounted for more than half of the 32 executions nationwide.
Alabama's scheduled execution is for Michael Taylor, 54, who was convicted of murdering an elderly couple during a robbery in 1991. Despite objections from his attorneys regarding the method of lethal injection and Taylor's request for execution by nitrogen gas, Governor Kay Ivey rejected clemency requests. Death penalty opponents argued that Taylor was too young and immature at 19 to fully comprehend his actions at the time of the crime.
In Indiana, Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, is slated for execution for causing a house fire in 2010 that killed his girlfriend's two young children. His legal team sought additional brain scans, citing a history of head injuries and mental health issues, but Governor Mike Braun denied this request and appeals to commute the sentence.
Concerns have also been raised about Indiana's supply of execution drugs, which were reportedly obtained from a pharmacy facing disciplinary action. However, the Indiana Department of Correction stated its confidence in carrying out the execution humanely.
The planned executions follow a botched execution attempt in Tennessee in September, where inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection and was hospitalized. She has since returned to prison.