3 executions carried out in a single day, first time since 2010

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.

Carlos 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.

Cuesta-Rodriguez turned his head to look at his two relatives who attended and mouthed "I love you," but said he had no last words.

His breathing was labored for several minutes before he was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. CT.

Convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend at their Oklahoma City home in 2003, Cuesta-Rodriguez said he regretted killing Olimpia Fisher and told a board he didn't want clemency. His attorneys said he had a difficult childhood in Cuba and suffered from brain damage and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Fisher, 43, planned to leave Cuesta-Rodriguez when he shot her in one eye and then waited about eight minutes as she screamed for help before firing the fatal shot into her other eye.

Fisher's daughters, Cinthya Allen and Katya Wallis, said in a statement that they hope the execution brings awareness to preventing domestic violence and they honor their mother by "raising our families to reflect the love and faith in God that she taught us."

Anthony Darrell Hines was executed by lethal injection in Tennessee for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jenkins. He was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. CT.

Hines stabbed Jenkins to death while the 54-year-old was working as a motel maid in Kingston Springs.