In the United States, several executions are planned across different states within a 24-hour period this week. Georgia and Texas originally scheduled executions to take place just an hour apart on Wednesday. However, a court intervened to temporarily block the execution in Georgia. Alabama has another execution set for the following day. At this point, Texas is still planning to carry out the execution of LeJames Norman on Wednesday after the Georgia judge stayed Stacey Humphreys’ execution late Tuesday.
Stacey Humphreys, 53, was supposed to face execution on Wednesday for the 2003 murders of real estate agents Lori Brown, 21, and Cindy Williams, 33. A Cobb County judge’s stay means his execution can only proceed if the stay is lifted or overturned by a higher court.
Meanwhile, one hour after Humphreys’ execution was initially scheduled, Texas is set to execute LeJames Norman, 40, who was convicted of murdering three neighbors during a robbery in 2005.
On Thursday, Alabama is moving forward with the execution of Jeffery Lee, 50, who was sentenced to death for a double murder committed during a pawn shop robbery in 1998.
“It’s pretty rare to have so many executions lined up in just a couple of days,” noted Robin Maher, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Maher shared that September has seven executions scheduled, and even though last October had a similar number, such occurrences have been uncommon since 2010.
“Earlier in August, there were three executions in a single day,” she added. “This is shaping up to be an unusual year with multiple executions happening on the same day or within the same month, but there’s no evidence suggesting any coordination between the states; it appears to be coincidental.” In fact, on August 13, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Alabama executed three individuals on the same day, marking the first time such events occurred together since January 2010.
In late July, Florida executed two inmates in one day—its first double execution in decades.
So far in 2026, there have been 25 executions in the U.S., with 14 additional executions planned, although these numbers could change depending on legal stays or any new scheduling. Last year, 11 states conducted a total of 47 executions, which was the highest number in the U.S. since 2009.
Florida has been the leader in executions, carrying out a record 19 executions in 2025, which accounted for over 40% of the national total for that year. As of now, Florida has seen 15 executions in 2026, representing about 60% of all executions in the country this year. Overall, Florida is responsible for nearly half of the executions in the U.S. across 2025 and 2026, partly due to a series of death warrants issued by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
In comparison, Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina have executed eight, six, and five individuals, respectively, during this time frame. Texas executed five individuals in 2025, with three more so far in 2026. Alabama had five in 2025 and one this year, while South Carolina executed five inmates, all in 2025.
This year remains somewhat unique, as Maher indicated that 2022 had the most executions in 15 years, but she doesn’t foresee reaching that high number again in 2026. “There are still some open warrants, but it’s unlikely we’ll see the spikes we did last year,” she expressed.
Maher attributed much of this increase to Florida, mentioning that, “Gov. DeSantis seems intent on setting records for executions during his time in office, aiming for roughly one every couple of weeks, both last year and this year.” There are still two executions scheduled for the remainder of 2026 in Florida: Curtis Beasley, 77, slated for September 29 for a 1995 murder, and William Lee Thompson, 74, scheduled for October 13 for a murder committed in 1976.
