Three death row inmates were executed yesterday across three US states.
asserted
inmates → execute → states
Jesse Guardado, 64, was pronounced dead at 6.13pm local time on Thursday following a lethal injection at a state prison in Starke, Florida.
asserted
Guardado → pronounce → Starke
He had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing 75-year-old Jackie Malone inside her Walton County home in 2004 before stealing her jewellery box, $80 (£60) and other valuables to buy drugs.
asserted
He → plead → drugs
The victim had helped him get a job and housing.
asserted
him → help → job
Hours earlier, Indiana executed 50-year-old Jeffrey Weisheit by lethal injection in a state prison in Michigan City.
asserted
Indiana → execute → City
Weisheit killed Alyssa Lynch, eight, and five-year-old Caleb Lynch by setting fire to his partner's house in Evansville, Indiana in 2010.
asserted
Weisheit → kill → 2010
Alyssa's body was found in a closet and Caleb's body was on a mattress, restrained with duct tape.
asserted
body → find → tape
In Alabama, 54-year-old Michael Taylor received the last lethal injection of the day for his conviction in the killing of an elderly man and woman in a home robbery.
asserted
Taylor → receive → robbery
In 1991, Taylor, then 19, fatally beat Ivan Moore, 83, and his 79-year-old wife Lucille with a metal bar during a robbery in their Gadsden, Alabama, home.
asserted
Taylor → beat → home
Police arrested him in their Cadillac an hour away in Birmingham.
asserted
Police → arrest → Birmingham
Jesse Guardado (pictured) was pronounced dead at 6.13pm local time on Thursday following a lethal injection at a state prison in Starke, Florida
It comes after Florida's outgoing GOP Governor, Ron DeSantis, has made aggressive use of the death penalty like few other governors.
His state has carried out more than half of the 35 executions so far this year in the US, where capital punishment has come under renewed scrutiny following Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike in September.
asserted
punishment → picture → September
It is the second time since August that three states had conducted executions on a single day, although it remains unusual.
asserted
it → conduct → day
The last time it happened was 2010.
asserted
it → happen → ?
Guardado was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm in Florida when the death chamber curtain went up promptly at 6.00pm local time.
asserted
curtain → strap → 6.00pm
Asked if he had a last statement, he replied: '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.'
asserted
I → ask → family
The drugs began flowing immediately afterward.
asserted
drugs → flow → ?
About a minute later, Guardado began breathing heavily, followed by some sputtering and twitching.
asserted
Guardado → begin → sputtering
Soon after, a warden shook Guardado and shouted his name, but got no response and a medic then pronounced him dead.
Mr DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has said he wants to bring justice to victims' families who have often waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.
asserted
sentences → shake → decades
Michael Taylor was executed by lethal injection on Thursday in Alabama for his conviction in the killing of an elderly man and woman in a home robbery
He signed the death warrants that led to a state record of 19 executions in 2025.
asserted
that → execute → 2025
The state is planning two more executions later this year.
asserted
state → plan → executions
The victim's son, Patrick Malone, spoke briefly to media afterward.
asserted
son → speak → media
Without directly discussing his mother or her murder, he questioned those who oppose the death penalty.
asserted
who → discuss → penalty
'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.
asserted
Malone → think → aftermath
In Alabama, Taylor was pronounced dead at 6.10pm local time after a lethal injection.
asserted
Taylor → pronounce → injection
The execution got underway shortly before 6pm as Taylor replied 'no sir' when asked if he had any final words.
asserted
he → get → words
He appeared to mouth 'thank you' toward his attorneys seated in the witness room.
asserted
He → appear → room
Taylor's spiritual adviser approached and prayed with him, and he closed his eyes, never opening them again.
asserted
he → approach → them
Death penalty opponents had urged Republican Governor Kay Ivey to commute Taylor's sentence to life in prison, noting his age and immaturity then.
asserted
opponents → urge → age
She declined.
asserted
She → decline → ?
Ms Ivey called Taylor's actions 'reprehensible' in a statement afterward, adding the couple had opened their home to him and 'Mr Taylor repaid the Moores by beating them to death with a metal bar, all to rob them for money to buy clothing and jewellery.'
Indiana executed 50-year-old Jeffrey Weisheit (pictured) on Thursday by lethal injection in a state prison in Michigan City
She also took a jab at California's Governor Newsom for planning to commute all death sentences there.
asserted
She → call → sentences
'California may let their criminals escape justice, but not Alabama.
uncertain
criminals → let → justice
Here, we enforce the law and always will,' Ms Ivey said at the end of the statement.
asserted
Ivey → enforce → statement
The victims' family thanked the state attorney general's office for bringing closure, but lamented having to wait 35 years for the death sentence to be imposed.
asserted
sentence → thank → closure
'We know that a person has the right to appeal, but there should come a time when the jury's decision is final.
asserted
decision → know → right
For all these years, our family has had to live with the waiting, the delays, and the uncertainty,' their statement read.
asserted
statement → have → waiting
'We have never forgotten our loved ones or what was taken from us.'
asserted
what → forget → us
The state switched Taylor's execution method after a judge declared a nitrogen gas method unconstitutional.
asserted
method → switch → method
His attorneys objected since he selected nitrogen gas as his method years ago, but a judge ruled against Taylor.
asserted
judge → object → Taylor
The defence attorneys said Taylor 'knew the depth of the harm he caused' and 'grieved it for the rest of his life', adding he became a changed person in prison and that 'Michael's life was proof that God isn't finished with any of us.
asserted
God → say → us
In Indiana, Weisheit was pronounced dead at 12.45am local time, said Noelle Russell, a Department of Correction spokesman.
asserted
Russell → pronounce → Correction
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
