Charles Victor Thompson, 55, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening in Huntsville, Texas, for the 1998 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. He became the first person executed in the United States this year.
Thompson was convicted of fatally shooting Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and Darren Keith Cain, 30, at her apartment in Tomball, a Houston suburb. Prosecutors said Thompson became increasingly possessive, jealous and abusive after the couple split, and shot both victims after an early-morning argument.
Thompson's legal team had appealed to the US Supreme Court for a stay, arguing that Hayslip died from flawed medical care after being shot, not from the gunshot wound itself. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his request for clemency on Monday.
After being resentenced to death in 2005, Thompson escaped from Harris County jail by walking out the front door unchallenged. He was captured three days later in Shreveport, Louisiana, while attempting to arrange funds to flee to Canada.
Texas has historically carried out more executions than any other state, though Florida led the nation with 19 executions in 2025.
