Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was executed by lethal injection in Indiana early Thursday, becoming the first of three inmates scheduled to die on the same day in the US. Hours later, Jesse Guardado in Florida and Michael Taylor in Alabama were due to face execution.
Evansville fire murders
Weisheit previously admitted setting a fire that killed his girlfriend's two children, Alyssa and Caleb Lynch, aged eight and five, at a home in Evansville, Indiana, in 2010. The murders were reportedly linked to the couple's deteriorating relationship.
Sentenced to death in 2013, Weisheit was executed at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, according to Noelle Russell, chief communications officer for the Indiana Department of Correction. It was the first execution of the year in Indiana, where the death penalty is less common.
Final meal and pronouncement
Weisheit was pronounced dead at 12.45am local time, had no final words, and ate barbecue ribs for his final meal, Russell said.
Executions were also due to be carried out in Florida and Alabama on Thursday, which would mark the second time this year that three people have been executed on the same day.
Renewed scrutiny of death penalty
The death penalty has faced renewed scrutiny following Tennessee's botched execution of Christa Pike, although courts have rejected efforts to halt other executions since she survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital last month.
Jesse Guardado, 64, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Florida. He had admitted stabbing Jackie Malone, 75, inside her home in Walton County in 2004 and stealing her jewellery box, $80 and other valuables to fund his drug addiction. Malone was a friend who had helped him find housing and work after his release from prison. A federal appeals court said in 2024 that Guardado had received a "full and fair" hearing during the death penalty phase of his case in 2005.
Florida has carried out more than half of the 32 executions in the US so far this year. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has said his goal is to bring justice to families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.
Alabama execution scheduled
Michael Taylor, 54, faced execution in Alabama on Thursday, 35 years after fatally beating 83-year-old Ivan Moore and 79-year-old Lucille Moore with a metal bar during a burglary at their home in Gadsden. Taylor, who was 19 at the time of the murders in 1991, then stole the couple's wallets and car and went on a shopping spree.
The execution would be the state's third this year. Death penalty opponents had urged Republican Governor Kay Ivey to reduce Taylor's sentence to life in prison, citing his age and immaturity at the time of the killings; she declined.
