Indiana puts child killer to death as three states prepare for rare same-day executions

Three lethal injections were scheduled for Thursday in the U.S., with an Indiana man set to be the first put to death. Jeffrey Weisheit admitted killing two children in a house fire. Florida and Alabama were also set to carry out executions on the same day, which would mark the second time this year that three people would be put to death on the same day.The death penalty has faced renewed scrutiny following Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike. Courts have rejected efforts to halt other executions since she survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital last month. In Indiana, where the death penalty is not as common, it would be the first execution this year.Florida's would be its 19th execution this year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, matching a record set by the state in 2025. Weisheit, 50, was convicted of setting a fire that killed his girlfriend's two children, ages 8 and 5, at a home in the Evansville area in 2010. The murders were apparently related to the couple's deteriorating relationship.This photo provided by the Indiana Department of Correction shows Jeffrey Weisheit (Indiana Department of Correction)Lawyers had asked for a life sentence for Weisheit. They wanted Republican Gov. Mike Braun to allow him to undergo brain scans in an effort to reinforce their argument that he has a history of head injuries and mental health problems. Braun declined, and he also turned down a request to reduce the sentence to life in prison.Weisheit's latest objection centered on the state's planned use of lethal drugs purchased from a pharmacy that is facing a disciplinary hearing next week at the Indiana Pharmacy Board. The Indiana Department of Correction said it's confident “in our ability to humanely carry out” the execution.In Florida, Jesse Guardado confessed and quickly pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman inside her Walton County home in 2004. He stole her jewelry box, $80 and other valuables to support his drug habit. She had helped him get a job and housing.A federal appeals court in 2024 said Guardado, now 64, had received a “full and fair” hearing during the death penalty phase of his case. Florida has carried out more than half of the 32 total executions in the U.S. so far this year. DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has said his goal is to bring justice to families who have waited decades for the death sentences to be carried out.Michael Taylor, 54, faces execution in Alabama, 35 years after fatally beating an older couple with a metal bar during a robbery in their Gadsden home. Police arrested the 19-year-old with the victims' Cadillac, an hour away in Birmingham.Florida's would be its 19th execution this year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, matching a record set by the state in 2025 (Getty)The execution would be the state's third this year. Death penalty opponents had urged Republican Gov. Kay Ivey to reduce Taylor's sentence to life in prison, noting his age and immaturity at the time of the killings. She declined.“If the state kills Michael, it is not the 19-year-old who made the worst mistake of his life who it kills. But the mature, well-respected, God-fearing man sitting in that cell today,” said Esther Brown of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty. The state plans to execute Taylor by lethal injection after a judge declared a nitrogen gas method unconstitutional.His attorneys objected to the last-minute switch to lethal injection since he selected nitrogen gas as his method several years ago, but a judge ruled against Taylor. Fischer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Chandler from Montgomery, Alabama.