Florida, Alabama and Indiana all carried out executions on the same day as California’s Gavin Newsom moves to commute 548 death sentences in a major development
One state in the US is on track to execute a record number of prisoners in a single year. The development comes as three US states all executed death row prisoners on the same day earlier this week.
On Thursday Florida, Alabama and Indiana all carried out executions more than a month on from Christa Pike’s botched double injection attempted execution in Tennessee. The numerous string of executions has prompted California Governor Gavin Newsom to declare he would commute all of the Golden State’s 548 death sentences before he leaves his term.
If enacted, experts say Newsom’s motion would be the largest mass clemency in American history. The move could trigger national division and more discourse surrounding the death penalty. In response to the proposed notion, Republican Governor Kay Ivey has issued a stern statement.
Ivey said: “California may let their criminals escape justice, but not Alabama.” The governor added: “Here, we enforce the law and always will.”
The day of triple executions in Florida, Alabama and Indiana, is the second time since August three states had conducted executions on the same day. The occurrence is rare and the last time it happened before this year was back in 2010.
The state of Florida has carried out more than half of the United States’ 35 executions this year under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis, who is set to leave office in January, has he wants to bring justice to the families of victims.
The governor signed death warrants that lead to the state’s record number of 19 executions in 2025.
On Thursday in Florida Jesse Guardado, 63, was executed via a lethal injection administered by an IV.
When asked if he had a last statement, he replied: “I would like to once again apologize for the pain and suffering I’ve caused to the victim’s family and my own family as well.”
The man pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing Jackie Malone, 75, inside her Walton County home in 2004 and stealing her jewellery box. The woman had been helping him to get a job and housing.
One the same day in Alabama, Michael Taylor, 54, was executed via lethal injection.
In 1991, 19-year-old Taylor beat Ivan Moore, 83, and his wife Lucille, 79, to death with a metal bar during a robbery.
In Indiana Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was executed after being injected by an IV. The man was sentenced to death after burning down a house killing two children belonging to his then girlfriend.
Eight-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her five-year-old brother Caleb tragically died in the fire 2010 caused by Weisheit.