Several U.S. executions are set to take place across multiple states within a 24-hour period this week.
Georgia and Texas had both planned executions roughly an hour apart on Wednesday, but a court late Tuesday temporarily stopped the Georgia execution. Alabama is also scheduled to carry out an execution the following day. Texas is still set to execute LeJames Norman on Wednesday after a Georgia judge issued a stay for Stacey Humphreys.
In Georgia, Stacey Humphreys, 53, had been scheduled to die Wednesday over his convictions in the 2003 killings of two real estate agents: 21-year-old Lori Brown and 33-year-old Cindy Williams. A Cobb County judge halted the execution late Tuesday. The execution cannot proceed unless that stay is lifted or reversed by a higher court.
About an hour after Humphreys’ execution had originally been set, Texas is scheduled to execute Norman, 40, for the 2005 robbery-related triple murder of his neighbors.
Jeffrey Lee, LeJames Norman and Stacey Humphreys have execution dates scheduled in three states within a 24-hour span, though a Georgia judge has stayed Humphreys’ execution. (Alabama Department of Corrections:Texas Department of Criminal Justice:Georgia Department of Corrections)
On Thursday, Alabama plans to execute Jeffery Lee, 50, for a double murder committed during a 1998 pawn shop robbery.
“It’s not very common to have this many executions just across a couple of days,” Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robin Maher told News Media. “This month, the month of September, we have seven executions scheduled. Last year in October, we had seven executions in a single month. But before then, we’d have to go back all the way to 2010 to see that number in a single month.”
“Just earlier this year, in August, there were three executions on the same day,” she continued. “This is an unusual year in that we’re seeing occurrences like a number of executions scheduled on the same day or during the same month. But there’s no evidence there’s any coordination among the states to have all these executions occur simultaneously. This looks largely to be a coincidence.”
On Aug. 13, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama each carried out lethal injections, the first time three states had executed prisoners on the same day since Jan. 7, 2010.
A few weeks earlier, on July 28, Florida carried out two executions in one day — the Sunshine State’s first double execution in decades.
Texas is scheduled to execute LeJames Norman on Wednesday after a Georgia judge stayed Stacey Humphreys’ execution, while Alabama is set to carry out another execution the following day. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
In 2026, 25 executions have been carried out in the U.S., and 14 are scheduled for the remainder of the year, although that number could change if courts issue stays or states schedule additional executions.
Last year, 11 states carried out 47 executions, making up the most executions carried out in a single year in the U.S. since 2009.
Leading the way in executions is Florida, which set a record with 19 inmates put to death in 2025, more than 40% of the U.S. total for the year. It also carried out 15 so far in 2026, accounting for 60% of this year’s total across the country.
Across 2025 and 2026 thus far, Florida accounts for about 47% of the nation’s executions, as it continues its accelerated pace amid a flurry of death warrants signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Texas, Alabama and South Carolina followed Florida, with eight, six and five executions, respectively, in that window. Texas carried out five executions in 2025 and three so far in 2026, Alabama executed five people in 2025 and one in 2026 and South Carolina put five people to death — all in 2025.
In 2026, 25 executions have been carried out in the U.S., and 14 are scheduled for the remainder of the year. (The Promise of Justice Initiative via AP)
“Last year was a very unusual year. It was the most executions we’ve seen in 15 years in the United States,” Maher said. “This year, we do not expect to reach that number of executions again. There are a number of other warrants that are still open for this year, but I don’t think we’ll reach the high that we reached last year.”
“All of this is really due to Florida,” she added. “Gov. DeSantis has decided that he wants to set a record in the number of executions that are conducted during his term. He has scheduled an execution for roughly every two weeks in the state of Florida, both last year and this year.”
Two executions remain scheduled in Florida for the rest of 2026. Curtis Beasley, 77, is set to be executed Sept. 29 for the 1995 murder of a woman who was bludgeoned with a hammer, while William Lee Thompson, 74, is scheduled for execution Oct. 13 for the 1976 murder of a woman who was beaten, tortured and killed with a chain-link belt.