Indiana, Florida and Alabama Carry Out Rare Triple Execution in One Day

Indiana, Florida and Alabama each carried out an execution Thursday, marking the second time this year that three inmates were put to death in the United States on the same day.

The year’s first triple execution occurred Aug. 13, when Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama executed inmates within several hours of one another. Before that, the last time three executions took place nationwide on a single day was Jan. 7, 2010.

Indiana began Thursday’s executions by putting Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, to death for setting a house fire in 2010 that killed his girlfriend’s two children, ages 8 and 5, as the couple’s relationship deteriorated. Weisheit was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m. at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City after receiving a lethal injection.

His attorneys had requested permission for additional brain scans, contending that his history of head injuries and mental health issues justified further testing. Republican Gov. Mike Braun rejected the request, as well as separate appeals seeking to have Weisheit’s death sentence commuted to life in prison.

Jesse Guardado, Michael Taylor and Jeffrey Weisheit were executed on the same day Thursday. (Florida, Alabama and Indiana Departments of Corrections)

Weisheit’s attorneys also questioned Indiana’s planned use of execution drugs supplied by a pharmacy scheduled for a disciplinary hearing before the Indiana Pharmacy Board next week.

The Indiana Department of Correction said it remained confident the execution could be carried out “humanely.” Afterward, Braun said Weisheit’s case had been reviewed repeatedly in both state and federal courts.

“These reviews have never resulted in an overturned sentence,” Braun 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 Alyssa Lynch and her brother Caleb, two innocent children whose lives were stolen in an act of unspeakable cruelty.”

In Florida, Jesse Guardado, 64, was executed after confessing to and pleading guilty to the 2004 fatal stabbing of a 75-year-old woman who had helped him secure work and housing. Guardado killed Jackie Malone inside her home, then stole her jewelry box, $80 and other belongings to support his drug addiction.

Guardado was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

The execution brought Florida’s total for the year to 19 inmates, matching the state’s record for executions in a single year set last year.

Florida has increased the pace of executions since Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis began signing a series of death warrants in 2025. The 19 executions carried out in the state last year exceeded the total under any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. They represented about 40% of the 47 executions nationwide in 2025.

Florida’s latest execution matched the state record of 19 inmates put to death in one year, set last year. (AP Photo/Curt Anderson, file)

SEE ALSO: Florida Sheriff: Citibank Office Shooter Targeted Bank Over $2,500 Debt

The Sunshine State has accounted for more than half of the 35 executions carried out nationwide this year, including Thursday’s three. In July, Florida executed two inmates on the same day, marking the first double execution by one state in nearly a decade.

Alabama completed Thursday’s triple execution by putting Michael Taylor, 54, to death for the 1991 killings of an older couple who were beaten with a metal bar during a robbery at their home. Authorities later found Taylor in Birmingham, about an hour away, driving the victims’ Cadillac.

Taylor was executed by lethal injection after a judge rejected his attorneys’ objections to the procedure. He had previously asked to be executed using nitrogen gas, and his lawyers sought to preserve that option.

His attorneys said Taylor “knew the depth of the harm he caused” and “grieved it for the rest of his life.” They said he had changed during his years in prison, adding, “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.”

Death penalty opponents had asked Republican Gov. Kay Ivey to commute Taylor’s sentence to life in prison. They argued that he was only 19 at the time of the killings and was too young and immature to fully grasp the consequences of his actions.

Ivey declined to intervene. In a statement Thursday night, she called Taylor’s conduct “reprehensible.”

“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 the case to a close but said it was painful to wait 35 years for the death sentence to be carried out.

The year’s first triple execution occurred Aug. 13, when Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama executed three inmates within hours of one another. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

“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,” the statement said. “We have never forgotten our loved ones or what was taken from us.”

The executions took place as lethal injection procedures face renewed scrutiny after a failed execution attempt in Tennessee. Death row inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to a hospital in late September. She has since been discharged and returned to prison.

Thursday’s executions also coincided with an announcement by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that he is seeking to commute all 548 death sentences in the state to life without parole. Of those cases, 382 require a recommendation from the California Supreme Court. Newsom said he believes “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us.”

Newsom, who imposed a moratorium on executions in California in 2019, said 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.”