Executions Scheduled in Multiple States Within 24 Hours

<p>Multiple executions are scheduled in the U.S. across different states within a 24-hour period this week.</p><p>Georgia and Texas planned to execute individuals within an hour of each other on Wednesday, but a court intervened to halt the execution in Georgia. Texas is still set to execute LeJames Norman on Wednesday after a Georgia judge stayed Stacey Humphreys' execution late Tuesday.</p><p>In Georgia, 53-year-old Stacey Humphreys was scheduled for execution on Wednesday for his conviction in the 2003 murders of two real estate agents, 21-year-old Lori Brown and 33-year-old Cindy Williams. However, a Cobb County judge issued a stay on his execution late Tuesday, meaning it cannot proceed unless the stay is lifted or overturned by a higher court.</p><p>Texas is scheduled to execute LeJames Norman, 40, for the triple murder of his neighbors during a robbery in 2005, about an hour after Humphreys' originally planned execution time.</p><p>On Thursday, Alabama plans to execute Jeffery Lee, 50, for a double murder committed during a pawn shop robbery in 1998.</p><p>Robin Maher, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, stated, "It's not very common to have this many executions just across a couple of days." She noted that seven executions are scheduled for September, matching the number from October of the previous year. Prior to that, the last instance of such a high number of executions in a single month was in 2010.</p><p>Maher also mentioned that earlier this year, three states—Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Alabama—conducted three lethal injections on the same day, the first occurrence of this since January 7, 2010. In July, Florida executed two inmates in a single day, marking its first double execution in decades.</p><p>As of 2026, there have been 25 executions in the U.S., with 14 more scheduled for the remainder of the year, although this number may change due to court stays or additional executions being scheduled.</p><p>In 2025, 11 states executed 47 individuals, the highest number since 2009. Florida led with 19 executions in 2025, accounting for over 40% of the total U.S. executions that year, and has executed 15 individuals so far in 2026, representing 60% of this year's total.</p><p>Following Florida, Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina executed eight, six, and five individuals, respectively, during the same period. Texas executed five in 2025 and three in 2026, Alabama executed five in 2025 and one in 2026, while South Carolina executed five in 2025.</p><p>Maher remarked, "Last year was a very unusual year. It was the most executions we've seen in 15 years in the United States. This year, we do not expect to reach that number of executions again." She attributed the high number of executions largely to Florida's policies under Governor Ron DeSantis, who has scheduled executions approximately every two weeks.</p><p>Two executions remain scheduled in Florida for the rest of 2026: Curtis Beasley, 77, is set for execution on September 29 for the 1995 murder of a woman, while William Lee Thompson, 74, is scheduled for execution on October 13 for the 1976 murder of a woman.</p>