Indiana, Florida and Alabama each executed a man Thursday, marking the second time this year that three U.S. states have carried out executions on the same day. The first instance came Aug. 13, when Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama executed inmates within hours of one another. Before that, the last same-day triple execution in the country occurred Jan. 7, 2010.
Indiana was first, executing Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, at 12:45 a.m. at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City by lethal injection. Weisheit was convicted of setting a 2010 house fire that killed his girlfriend’s two children, ages 8 and 5, as the couple’s relationship was falling apart.
Weisheit’s attorneys had asked for additional brain scans, citing his history of head injuries and mental health problems, and had sought to have his sentence commuted to life in prison. Republican Gov. Mike Braun denied both requests. His lawyers also raised concerns about the source of the execution drugs, which came from a pharmacy facing a disciplinary hearing before the Indiana Pharmacy Board next week, but the Indiana Department of Correction said it was confident the execution could be carried out “humanely.”
Braun said afterward that the case had been reviewed repeatedly in state and federal courts. “These reviews have never resulted in an overturned sentence,” he said in a statement. “Today, Weisheit’s sentence has been carried out as ordered by the court.” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said the execution delivered “long-awaited justice” for the victims, Alyssa Lynch and her brother Caleb.
In Florida, Jesse Guardado, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Guardado had confessed and pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing 75-year-old Jackie Malone in 2004 inside her home, then stealing her jewelry box, $80 and other items to fund his drug addiction. Malone had previously helped Guardado find a job and housing.
The execution tied Florida’s record of 19 executions in a single year, a total the state also reached last year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a series of death warrants since 2025, and the state’s 19 executions last year were more than under any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, accounting for roughly 40% of the 47 executions carried out nationwide that year. Florida has now accounted for more than half of the 35 executions carried out nationwide this year, including Thursday’s. In July, the state carried out a double execution on the same day for the first time in nearly a decade.
Alabama closed out the day by executing Michael Taylor, 54, for the 1991 murders of an elderly couple who were beaten to death with a metal bar during a robbery in their home. Taylor was caught in Birmingham, about an hour from the crime scene, driving the victims’ Cadillac.
Taylor was put to death by lethal injection after a judge rejected his attorneys’ objections to that method; Taylor had previously asked to be executed by nitrogen gas, and his lawyers sought to preserve that option. His attorneys said in a statement that he “knew the depth of the harm he caused” and “grieved it for the rest of his life,” adding that he had changed while incarcerated. “Michael’s life was proof that God isn’t finished with any of us. Tonight we pray that both families find peace, and we deeply mourn the loss of Michael,” they said.
Death penalty opponents had asked Gov. Kay Ivey to commute Taylor’s sentence to life in prison, arguing he was too young and immature at 19 to fully grasp the consequences of his actions. Ivey declined, calling his actions “reprehensible” in a statement issued Thursday night. “Thirty-five years ago yesterday, Ivan and Lucille Moore kindly opened their home to Michael Taylor. Mr. Taylor repaid the Moores by beating them to death with a metal bar, all to rob them for money to buy clothing and jewelry,” she said.
The victims’ family thanked the state attorney general’s office for bringing closure but said they were disappointed it took 35 years. “We know that a person has the right to appeal, but there should come a time when the jury’s decision is final. For all these years, our family has had to live with the waiting, the delays, and the uncertainty,” their statement read. “We have never forgotten our loved ones or what was taken from us.”
Thursday’s executions came amid renewed attention on lethal injection procedures following a failed execution attempt in Tennessee in late September, when death row inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital and was hospitalized. She has since been released and returned to prison.
The same day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he is seeking to commute all 548 death sentences in his state to life without parole, though 382 of those commutations would require a recommendation from the California Supreme Court. Newsom, who imposed a moratorium on executions in California in 2019, said he believes “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us,” adding that he “knew we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, the first among them justice and human decency.”
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