Five executions in eight days. Why the death penalty is being used more and more

This year, 34 people have been executed by court order in the United States, eight more people are scheduled to be executed following the court decision, and five of them are expected to die in the next eight days.

This year’s total already significantly surpasses last year’s 25 executions. That would mark the highest figure since 2012, when 43 prisoners were executed, but it remains well below the modern peak of 98 executions in 1999.

The increase in executions comes mainly from four states (Florida, Texas, Alabama and South Carolina); these states account for 76 percent of this year’s court-ordered murders.

“This is not an increase in executions nationally, it’s actually just a few states,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Chief among these FloridaIt has already carried out 13 executions, after carrying out just one last year. Increase comes as president Donald Trump He called on governors to expand the use of the death penalty.

“Governor DeSantis is planning all of these executions with complete autonomy and secrecy,” Maher said.

DeSantis’ office did not respond to questions about why the governor is now increasing the pace of executions and whether Trump’s policies played a role.

Executions took place this year Alabama, Arizonain florida, indianaLouisiana, mississippiOklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee And Texas.

All but one of these states (Arizona) are led by Republican governors.

Here’s a look at the executions planned by state for the rest of the year:

indiana

Roy Lee Ward is set to die by lethal injection early Friday in his third execution since the state resumed capital punishment last year.

Ward, 53, was convicted of raping and murdering 15-year-old Stacy Payne in 2001.

Lawyers said Ward was remorseful and had exhausted his legal options after multiple court battles.

Lance C. Shockley is scheduled to be executed Tuesday.

Shockley, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham outside his home in Carter County in 2005.

Authorities said Graham was killed because he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter and left the scene of the crash.

Florida

Samuel Lee Smithers will undergo a lethal injection Tuesday evening.

Smithers, 72, was convicted of murdering two women whose bodies were found in a rural pond in 1996. Authorities said he met his two victims, Christy Cowan and Denise Roach, at a meeting on separate dates. tampa A motel that would pay them for sex.

Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, is scheduled to be executed on October 28. He was convicted of raping and murdering his neighbor Cynthia Campbell, whose body was found near the Pensacola Bay Bridge in 1998.

The executions of Smithers and Grim would be Florida’s 14th and 15th executions of 2025, further extending the state’s record for executions in a single year. The state’s previous record since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 was eight in 2014.

mississippi

Charles Ray Crawford is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of a college student.

Crawford, 59, was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing 20-year-old community college student Kristy Ray after kidnapping her from her family’s home in northern Mississippi’s Tippah County. Crawford told cops he lost consciousness and didn’t remember killing her.

Texas

Robert Roberson was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on October 16, but his closely watched trial was halted by Texas’ supreme criminal court on Thursday.

Roberson, 58, was set to become the first person executed in the United States for a murder linked to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued that he hit his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, and shook her violently, causing severe head trauma that led to her death.

But Roberson says he never abused the girl. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers believes Roberson is innocent and is pushing for a new trial for him.

Roberson’s attorneys and some medical experts say her daughter died of complications from pneumonia. They say his conviction was based on flawed and outdated scientific evidence.

Arizona

Richard Kenneth Djerf will be executed by lethal injection on October 17 for killing four members of a family. Phoenix House.

Djerf, 55, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in the 1993 killings of Albert Luna Sr., his wife Patricia, their 18-year-old daughter Rochelle and their 5-year-old son Damien.

Prosecutors say Djerf had previously blamed another member of the Luna family for the theft of electronic items from his home and became obsessed with revenge.

Alabama

Anthony Todd Boyd is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas on October 23.

A judge sentenced Boyd to death for his role in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega. Prosecutors said Boyd taped Huguley’s feet before pouring gasoline on him and setting him on fire because of another man’s $200 cocaine debt.

Boyd maintained his innocence for a long time, saying he never participated in the murder.

Tennessee

Harold Nichols is scheduled to be executed on December 11.

Nichols, 64, was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of 21-year-old Karen Pulley in Hamilton County. Authorities said he broke into Pulley’s home, raped her and hit her in the head several times with a board.

Nichols was planned to be killed in August 2020, but the execution was postponed. COVID-19 pandemic.