Florida, Alabama and Indiana each carried out an execution Thursday, ending the lives of three convicted killers as California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to commute all 548 death sentences in the state before he leaves office.
The rare convergence of three executions in one day, alongside Newsom’s proposal—potentially the largest mass act of clemency in U.S. history—highlighted the country’s sharply divided views on capital punishment.
The executions also came amid renewed scrutiny of the death penalty following Tennessee’s troubled execution of Christa Pike in September.
Florida carried out its 19th execution of the year, matching the state record and putting it on course to establish a new high in the weeks ahead.
Indiana executed a man convicted of killing two children by setting fire to a home in 2010. In Alabama, another man was put to death by lethal injection for murdering an elderly couple during a robbery.
“California may let their criminals escape justice, but not Alabama,” Republican Governor Kay Ivey said. “Here, we enforce the law and always will.”
Thursday marked the second occasion since August on which three states carried out executions on the same day. Such a grouping remains uncommon; before this year, the last instance was in 2010.
Jesse Guardado was pronounced dead at 6.13pm after receiving a lethal injection at a state prison in Starke, Florida.
Jesse Guardado was pronounced dead at 6.13pm on Thursday after being given a lethal injection at a Florida state prison in Starke
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has said he wants to deliver justice to victims’ families who have often waited decades for death sentences to be carried out
Law enforcement vehicles are parked outside the Florida state prison in Starke, Florida, in a file photograph
Guardado had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing 75-year-old Jackie Malone inside her Walton County home in 2004. He stole her jewelry box, $80 and other valuables to fund his drug use, despite Malone having helped him find employment and housing.
Under outgoing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has carried out more than half of the 35 executions recorded across the country so far this year.
Guardado, 64, was secured to a gurney with an IV already inserted when the death chamber curtain opened at 6pm.
When asked whether he wished to make a final statement, he said: “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 lethal drugs were administered immediately afterward.
Guardado began breathing heavily before sputtering and twitching.
A short time later, a warden shook him and called his name without receiving a response. A medic then confirmed his death.
DeSantis, who is due to leave office in January, has said the executions are intended to provide justice for victims’ relatives who have frequently waited decades for the sentences to be carried out.
Michael Taylor was executed by lethal injection in Alabama on Thursday for the murders of an elderly man and woman during a home robbery
Attorney Kacey Keeton speaks Monday at the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery during an event opposing Michael Taylor’s scheduled execution
He signed the warrants that brought Florida’s execution total to a state record of 19 in 2025. Officials have scheduled two additional executions before the year ends.
Patrick Malone, the son of the Florida victim, said he questioned the position of people who oppose capital punishment.
“Do such people ever think about what happened to the victim or consider the unending aftermath the victim’s family endures and relives every time that terrible event comes up?” Malone said.
In Alabama, 54-year-old Michael Taylor was pronounced dead at 6.10pm local time following a lethal injection.
The execution began shortly before 6pm. When asked if he had any final words, Taylor replied, “No, sir.”
He appeared to mouth “thank you” toward his lawyers, who were seated in the witness room.
Taylor’s spiritual adviser then approached to pray with him. Taylor closed his eyes and did not open them again.
The entrance to W.C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, shown in a file photograph
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey called the double murder “reprehensible,” saying the elderly couple had welcomed Taylor into their home before he attacked them
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Taylor was 19 in 1991 when he used a metal bar to beat Ivan Moore, 83, and his 79-year-old wife, Lucille, during a robbery at their home in Gadsden, Alabama.
Police later found him in the couple’s Cadillac in Birmingham, about an hour away.
Ivey described the killings as “reprehensible” and said the couple had allowed Taylor into their home before he attacked them.
The governor said Taylor killed the pair in order to steal money for clothing and jewelry.
Opponents of the death penalty had asked Ivey to reduce Taylor’s sentence to life in prison, pointing to his age and immaturity at the time of the crime. She refused.
The victims’ relatives thanked the state attorney general’s office for pursuing the case, while expressing anguish that it took 35 years for the sentence to be carried out.
“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 in a statement.
“For all these years, our family has had to live with the waiting, the delays, and the uncertainty. We have never forgotten our loved ones or what was taken from us.”
Alabama changed the method of execution after a judge ruled that using nitrogen gas would be unconstitutional.
Taylor had selected nitrogen gas as his preferred method years earlier, and his lawyers objected to the switch. A judge nevertheless rejected their challenge.
Taylor’s attorneys said he understood the damage he had caused, adding that “Michael’s life was proof that God isn’t finished with any of us.”
Jeffrey Weisheit was executed by lethal injection for the murders of eight-year-old Alyssa Lynch and five-year-old Caleb Lynch
Caleb and Alyssa Lynch were killed by Weisheit in Indiana in 2010
Eight-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her five-year-old brother Caleb were trapped inside the house after Weisheit set it on fire
In Indiana, 50-year-old Jeffrey Weisheit was pronounced dead at 12.45am at the state prison in Michigan City, Department of Correction spokesperson Noelle Russell said.
His final meal was barbecue ribs, and he did not make a final statement.
Weisheit admitted killing his girlfriend’s two children by setting fire to their home near Evansville in 2010. He had asked Governor Mike Braun to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment, but Braun declined.
After the execution, Braun said Weisheit’s case had been repeatedly examined by state and federal courts, with no review resulting in the sentence being overturned.
“Today, Weisheit’s sentence has been carried out as ordered by the court,” Braun said.
The victims, eight-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her five-year-old brother Caleb, were trapped inside the burning house.
Alyssa was found in a closet. Caleb was discovered on a mattress with duct tape restraining him. Investigators also found a railroad flare inside his underwear and another beneath his body.
The remains of Lisa Lynch’s home in northern Vanderburgh County after Jeffrey Weisheit set it ablaze on April 10, 2010
The ruins of the house where Alyssa and Caleb died in the fire while their mother’s boyfriend was supposed to be caring for them
One of two memorials built near the property where the children died
The blaze was so intense that cadaver dogs needed several hours to find the children’s remains in the burned-out home
The children’s mother, Lisa Lynch, was at work when the fire started. She had left Alyssa and Caleb in Weisheit’s care as her relationship with him was reportedly deteriorating.
In court, Lisa described Alyssa as an imaginative child who loved drawing pictures of her family. Caleb, she said, enjoyed hugs, cooking, and playing with trucks and trains.
“Every birthday, every holiday, every landmark moment is marked by their agonizing absence,” she said.
“Time passes but the weight of losing them never fades. They will always be my children.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said the execution delivered “long-awaited justice for Alyssa Lynch and her brother Caleb, two innocent children whose lives were stolen in an act of unspeakable cruelty.”
