August 13, 2026 / 8:22 PM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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Tennessee and Oklahoma executed inmates within 30 minutes of each other on Thursday, followed by Alabama later in the day, marking the first time since 2010 that U.S. states executed three men by lethal injection in a single day.The Tennessee man was executed for killing a maid at a motel in 1985 and the Oklahoma man for killing his girlfriend in 2003. In Alabama, a man was executed for killing a 5-year-old girl he paid her mother to abuse.Having three executions in one day is a coincidence in scheduling, but it also reflects a trend of increased executions in the U.S. Eleven states executed a total of 47 people in 2025, the highest number since 2009. The last time three executions were held on the same day was Jan. 7, 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio and Texas put inmates to death. Three executions were scheduled on the same day in 2018, but only one went forward after a Texas man was granted a reprieve and prison officials in Alabama had problems with the IV line.Nationwide, a total of 21 executions have been carried out so far this year, including Thursday's, and nearly a dozen more are scheduled, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Florida has conducted 12 executions to date in 2026 — more than all other states combined. In July, Florida carried out two executions in a single day.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who leaves office in January, oversaw a record 19 executions last year, more in a single year than any other Florida governor since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U.S. in 1976. Oklahoma prisoner said he regretted 2003 killing of girlfriendCarlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, died by lethal injection at the state's penitentiary in rural McAlester, Oklahoma. He was the third person put to death this year in the state.
