Three States Execute Inmates on Same Day for First Time Since 2010
Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Alabama carried out lethal injection executions within hours of each other Thursday, August 13, marking the first time three U.S. states have put inmates to death on the same day since January 2010.
What Happened
Tennessee and Oklahoma executed their respective inmates within about 30 minutes of each other Thursday, with Alabama following hours later, according to CNN. The Tennessee execution took place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, where the state executed Anthony Darrell Hines for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jenkins, a 54-year-old motel maid he stabbed to death in Kingston Springs, according to the Associated Press. Hines had originally been sentenced to death in 1986, won an appeal for a new sentencing hearing, and was resentenced to death in 1989.
In Oklahoma, the state executed 70-year-old Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in McAlester for the 2003 killing of his girlfriend, Olimpia Fisher, in their Oklahoma City home, according to the Associated Press. Cuesta-Rodriguez said he regretted the killing and did not seek clemency from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board. He was the third person executed in Oklahoma this year and the 20th under Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is set to leave office in January after eight years.
Alabama’s execution, carried out later Thursday evening, involved a man convicted of killing a 5-year-old girl. Given the disturbing nature of the underlying crime, this report does not detail the specific circumstances of the killing beyond noting that the man had dropped all his appeals ahead of the execution, according to the Associated Press. It marked Alabama’s first execution of the year; an earlier scheduled execution using nitrogen gas had been halted in June after a federal judge ruled that method unconstitutional.
Why This Convergence Is So Rare
The last time three U.S. states carried out executions on the same day was January 7, 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas each put an inmate to death, according to PBS News. A similar triple convergence had been scheduled in 2018, but only one of the three executions ultimately proceeded that day after a Texas man received a last-minute reprieve and Alabama prison officials encountered problems inserting an IV line for the state’s own scheduled execution.
The Broader National Picture
This year’s total execution count has continued climbing across the country. According to the Associated Press, 11 states carried out executions in 2025. With Thursday’s Tennessee and Alabama executions going forward, six states will have carried out executions in 2026. Florida alone has put 31 prisoners to death since the start of 2025, including two men executed on the same day in July, according to the Associated Press.
A Recent Complication in Tennessee
Thursday’s Tennessee execution came just three months after a separate lethal injection attempt in the state was called off due to a problem inserting an IV line, according to the Associated Press — a detail that had drawn some additional scrutiny to how Thursday’s execution would be carried out. The state declined to say publicly whether the same doctor would preside over Hines’s execution as had been involved in the earlier halted attempt.
FAQ
Which states carried out executions Thursday? Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Alabama, marking the first time three states have carried out executions on the same day since January 2010.
Who was executed in Tennessee? Anthony Darrell Hines, for the 1985 murder of motel maid Catherine Jean Jenkins.
Who was executed in Oklahoma? Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, for the 2003 killing of his girlfriend, Olimpia Fisher.
Was this Alabama’s first execution of 2026? Yes. An earlier scheduled execution using nitrogen gas had been halted in June after a federal judge ruled that method unconstitutional.
How many states have carried out executions in 2026 so far? Six, following Thursday’s Tennessee and Alabama executions, according to the Associated Press.
Conclusion
Thursday’s rare same-day convergence of three separate executions marks a notable moment in the ongoing national picture of capital punishment, which has continued at a measurable pace across multiple states in 2025 and 2026. With Florida alone accounting for 31 executions since the start of 2025 and six states now having carried out executions this year, Thursday’s events reflect a continuation of active capital punishment enforcement in several states even as questions about execution procedures, including IV line complications and the constitutionality of specific methods, continue to surface in individual cases.
Sources: The Associated Press (via ABC News, PBS News, NPR, WOKV, WDBO), CNN (reporting dated August 13, 2026).