Multiple states set to carry out executions within 24-hour window

Multiple executions are scheduled in the U.S. in as many states within a 24-hour window this week.

Georgia and Texas had each planned to put a man to death within an hour of each other on Wednesday before a court stepped in to halt the one in Georgia for now, while Alabama is set to carry out another execution the following day. Texas remains scheduled to execute LeJames Norman on Wednesday after a Georgia judge stayed Stacey Humphreys’ execution late Tuesday.

In the Peach State, 53-year-old Stacey Humphreys was set to be executed on Wednesday for his conviction in the 2003 murders of two real estate agents, 21-year-old Lori Brown and 33-year-old Cindy Williams. But a Cobb County judge stayed his execution late Tuesday, meaning the execution cannot move forward unless the stay is lifted or overturned by a higher court.

About an hour after that execution was initially set to happen, Texas scheduled to execute LeJames Norman, 40, for the triple murder of his neighbors during a robbery that turned deadly in 2005.

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Then on Thursday, Alabama plans to execute Jeffery Lee, 50, for a double murder carried out during a 1998 pawn shop holdup.

“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 Fox News Digital. “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, three states — Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama — carried out three lethal injections on the same day, marking the first time three states executed prisoners on the same day since January 7, 2010.

Weeks earlier, on July 28, Florida carried out two executions in a single day, which was the Sunshine State’s first double execution in decades.

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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.

“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.