Three lethal injections were scheduled for Thursday in the U.S., with an Indiana man set to be the first put to death.
asserted
man → schedule → death
Jeffrey Weisheit admitted killing two children in a house fire.
asserted
Weisheit → admit → fire
Florida and Alabama were also set to carry out executions on the same day, which would mark the second time this year that three people would be put to death on the same day.
asserted
people → set → day
The death penalty has faced renewed scrutiny following Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike.
asserted
penalty → face → Pike
Courts have rejected efforts to halt other executions since she survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital last month.
asserted
she → reject → pentobarbital
Florida's would be its 19th execution this year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, matching a record set by the state in 2025.
asserted
Florida → match → 2025
Weisheit, 50, was convicted of setting a fire that killed his girlfriend's two children, ages 8 and 5, at a home in the Evansville area in 2010.
asserted
that → convict → 2010
The murders were apparently related to the couple's deteriorating relationship.
asserted
murders → relate → relationship
Lawyers had asked for a life sentence for Weisheit.
asserted
Lawyers → ask → Weisheit
They wanted Republican Gov. Mike Braun to allow him to undergo brain scans in an effort to reinforce their argument that he has a history of head injuries and mental health problems.
asserted
he → want → injuries
Braun declined, and he also turned down a request to reduce the sentence to life in prison.
asserted
he → decline → prison
Weisheit's latest objection centered on the state's planned use of lethal drugs purchased from a pharmacy that is facing a disciplinary hearing next week at the Indiana Pharmacy Board.
asserted
that → center → Board
The Indiana Department of Correction said it's confident “in our ability to humanely carry out” the execution.
asserted
it → say → execution
In Florida, Jesse Guardado confessed and quickly pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman inside her Walton County home in 2004.
asserted
Guardado → confess → 2004
He stole her jewelry box, $80 and other valuables to support his drug habit.
asserted
He → steal → habit
She had helped him get a job and housing.
asserted
him → help → job
A federal appeals court in 2024 said Guardado, now 64, had received a “full and fair” hearing during the death penalty phase of his case.
asserted
Guardado → say → case
Florida has carried out more than half of the 32 total executions in the U.S. so far this year.
asserted
Florida → carry → U.S.
DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has said his goal is to bring justice to families who have waited decades for the death sentences to be carried out.
asserted
sentences → leave → decades
Michael Taylor, 54, faces execution in Alabama, 35 years after fatally beating an older couple with a metal bar during a robbery in their Gadsden home.
asserted
Taylor → face → home
Police arrested the 19-year-old with the victims' Cadillac, an hour away in Birmingham.
asserted
Police → arrest → Birmingham
Death penalty opponents had urged Republican Gov. Kay Ivey to reduce Taylor's sentence to life in prison, noting his age and immaturity at the time of the killings.
asserted
opponents → urge → killings
She declined.
asserted
She → decline → ?
“If the state kills Michael, it is not the 19-year-old who made the worst mistake of his life who it kills.
asserted
it → kill → who
But the mature, well-respected, God-fearing man sitting in that cell today,” said Esther Brown of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty.
asserted
Brown → respect → Penalty
The state plans to execute Taylor by lethal injection after a judge declared a nitrogen gas method unconstitutional.
asserted
method → plan → injection
His attorneys objected to the last-minute switch to lethal injection since he selected nitrogen gas as his method several years ago, but a judge ruled against Taylor.
asserted
judge → object → Taylor
Fischer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Chandler from Montgomery, Alabama.
asserted
Fischer → report → Montgomery
The Aporia
