Indiana, Florida and Alabama execute three men on the same day — the second triple execution day this year

For only the second time this year — and the second time since January 2010 before that — three U.S. states carried out executions on the same day. Indiana went first, just after midnight. Florida and Alabama followed in the early evening. By 6:13 p.m., three men were dead.

At 12:45 a.m., Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was declared dead at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, executed by lethal injection for the 2010 arson murders of his girlfriend's two children — Alyssa Lynch, 8, and her brother Caleb, 5 — in the Evansville area. He had no final words. His last meal was barbecue ribs.

Defense lawyers for Weisheit had asked a court to allow further brain scans, citing a record of head injuries and mental health issues, and also raised objections to Indiana's use of drugs sourced from a pharmacy that was facing a disciplinary proceeding before the Indiana Pharmacy Board. Republican Gov. Mike Braun denied both the brain scan request and a bid to commute the sentence to life in prison. Regarding its ability to conduct the execution, the Indiana Department of Correction expressed confidence that it could do so 'humanely.'

These reviews have never resulted in an overturned sentence. Today, Weisheit's sentence has been carried out as ordered by the court.— Mike Braun, Indiana Governor

Long-awaited justice for Alyssa Lynch and her brother Caleb, two innocent children whose lives were stolen in an act of unspeakable cruelty.— Todd Rokita, Indiana Attorney General

At Florida State Prison near Starke, Jesse Guardado, 64, was declared dead at 6:13 p.m. — marking the state's 19th execution of the year and tying its own record set last year. After entering a guilty plea, Guardado was convicted of fatally stabbing Jackie Malone — a 75-year-old woman who had helped him secure a job and housing — inside her Walton County home in 2004; he then took her jewelry box, $80 and other valuables to purchase drugs. In 2024, a federal appeals court determined that he had received a 'full and fair' hearing during the death penalty phase of his case.

Florida's pace under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has been extraordinary: the state's 19 executions this year account for more than half of the 35 carried out nationwide so far, according to Fox News. Earlier this year in July, Florida put two prisoners to death on the same day, the first time a single state had carried out a double execution in nearly ten years.

Alabama closed out the day when Michael Taylor, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. — executed for the 1991 beating deaths of Ivan and Lucille Moore, an elderly couple in their Gadsden home. Taylor, then 19, beat them with a metal bar during a robbery and was arrested in Birmingham about an hour away, in possession of the couple's Cadillac. It was Alabama's third execution of the year.

Taylor's execution carried its own legal wrinkle: he had previously selected nitrogen gas as his execution method, but a judge ruled the method unconstitutional and allowed the switch to lethal injection over his attorneys' objections. When asked if he had final words, Taylor replied 'no sir.' He appeared to mouth 'thank you' toward his attorneys, then closed his eyes as his spiritual adviser prayed with him.

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.— Kay Ivey, Alabama Governor

If the state kills Michael, it is not the 19-year-old who made the worst mistake of his life who it kills. But the mature, well-respected, God-fearing man sitting in that cell today.— Esther Brown, Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty

The Moore family, in a statement reported by Fox News, said they were grateful for the outcome but expressed frustration at the three-decade wait. 'We know that a person has the right to appeal, but there should come a time when the jury's decision is final,' the family said, adding: 'For all these years, our family has had to live with the waiting, the delays, and the uncertainty.'

Thursday's triple execution day unfolded against two sharply contrasting backdrops. In Tennessee, the September failed execution of Christa Pike — who survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital and was hospitalized — has renewed scrutiny of lethal injection procedures nationwide, though courts have rejected efforts to halt other executions on that basis. A month after the incident, Pike dictated a statement to her lawyers in which she said she has 'been in pain every moment since she woke up confused in a hospital.' Also on Thursday, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a bid to commute all 548 death sentences in that state to life without parole, saying he believes 'state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values.' Alabama Gov. Ivey took direct aim at Newsom in her post-execution statement: 'California may let their criminals escape justice, but not Alabama. Here, we enforce the law and always will.'

Why it matters — The back-to-back triple execution days — a frequency not seen since at least 2010 — reflect a sharp acceleration in U.S. capital punishment at the state level, even as a failed execution in Tennessee and California's mass commutation push keep the death penalty's future contested.

Reported by usatoday.com, cbsnews.com, foxnews.com