Overview
- Three U.S. states carried out lethal injections on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, executing Anthony Darrell Hines in Tennessee, Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez in Oklahoma, and Jeremy Williams in Alabama.
- Hines had sought delays, citing two prior strokes, muscle atrophy and the May failure to establish a backup IV line, but Tennessee courts and the governor denied relief before the execution.
- Williams waived appeals and asked to be put to death for the 2021 rape and murder of a 5-year-old, and Alabama’s execution proceeded after federal courts earlier blocked a proposed nitrogen-gas method in the state.
- Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 3–1 against recommending clemency for Cuesta-Rodriguez, who told the board he did not want mercy and expressed regret at his clemency hearing.
- The rare same-day triple execution underscores a recent rise in U.S. executions driven by a few states—47 people were executed in 2025—and is likely to sharpen legal and medical scrutiny of IV practices, clemency decisions, and how states staff and oversee execution teams.