Key facts
- Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma for the 2003 murder of Olimpia Fisher.
- Darrell Hines, 66, is scheduled for execution in Tennessee for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins.
- Jeremy Williams, 42, is scheduled for execution in Alabama for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in 2021.
- If all three executions proceed, it will be the first time in over 15 years that three US executions occur on the same day.
- US executions increased to 47 last year from 25 the year prior, with Florida accounting for 19.
Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, was pronounced dead at 10:13am at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, becoming the first of three executions scheduled for Thursday in the United States. He was sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of his common-law wife, Olimpia Fisher. Cuesta-Rodriguez had expressed remorse and cited lifelong struggles with mental illness in his unsuccessful appeals for mercy.
Later on Thursday, Darrell Hines, 66, is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins. Hines' legal team sought to postpone his execution, citing issues with a previous execution attempt in May that was prolonged and gruesome.
The third execution planned for Thursday is that of Jeremy Williams, 42, in Alabama. Williams pleaded guilty to the 2021 rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland in Georgia and has not pursued appeals, leading to a faster execution timeline.
Should all three executions proceed, it would mark the first time in over 15 years that three individuals are put to death on a single day in the US. While the timing is coincidental, it signals a renewed momentum for capital punishment in states that retain the death penalty. Last year, the US carried out 47 executions, a substantial increase from 25 in the preceding year, with Florida alone conducting 19 under Governor Ron DeSantis.
All three scheduled executions were planned to be carried out by lethal injection, the standard method in the US since the early 1980s. Alabama's attempt to use nitrogen gas, an experimental method, was halted by a federal judge in June due to constitutional concerns.