Five hangings in eight days. Why is death penalty being used more and more?

Thirty-four people have been executed by court order in the United States this year, with eight more scheduled to be executed before it’s over, five of whom are to die in the next eight days.

This year’s total is much higher than last year’s 25 executions. This may be the highest figure since 2012, when 43 prisoners were executed, although it is well below the modern peak of 98 executions in 1999.

The increase in executions is driven primarily by four states – Florida, Texas, Alabama and South Carolina – which account for 76 percent of this year’s court-ordered executions.

“This is not an increase in executions nationally – it’s really just limited to a few states,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

chief among them FloridaWho has hanged himself 13 times till now after hanging him only once last year. Increase comes as President donald trump Has urged governors to expand the use of the death penalty.

“Gov. DeSantis is scheduling all of these executions with complete autonomy and complete secrecy,” Maher said.

DeSantis’ office has not responded to questions about why governors are now accelerating the pace of executions and whether Trump’s policies are playing a role.

hanged in this year Alabama, ArizonaFlorida, Indianalouisiana, mississippiokoostle, South Carolina, tennessee And texas,

All but one of those states – Arizona – are run by Republican governors.

Here’s a look at the executions scheduled for the rest of the year, state-wise:

Indiana

Roy Lee Ward is set to die by lethal injection early Friday, the state’s third execution since capital punishment resumed last year.

Ward, 53, was convicted of the rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacey Payne in 2001.

Lawyers said Ward is remorseful and has exhausted his legal options after several court battles.

Lance C. Shockley is scheduled to be executed Tuesday.

Shockley, 48, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dwayne Graham outside his home in Carter County in 2005.

Authorities said Graham was killed as he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter and was leaving the crash scene.

Florida

Samuel Lee Smithers will be given a lethal injection Tuesday evening.

Smithers, 72, was convicted of the murders of two women, whose bodies were found in a rural pond in 1996. Authorities said he met his two victims – Christy Cowan and Dennis Roach – on separate dates. tampa The motel will pay them for sex.

Norman Merle Grimm Jr., 65, is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 28. He was convicted of raping and murdering his neighbor, Cynthia Campbell, whose body was found near the Pensacola Bay Bridge in 1998.

Smithers and Grim’s executions will be Florida’s 14th and 15th death sentences carried out in 2025, tying the state’s record for executions in a single year. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the state’s previous record was eight in 2014.

mississippi

Charles Ray Crawford is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of a college student.

Crawford, 59, was sentenced to death for stabbing Christy Ray, a 20-year-old community college student, to death after abducting her from her parents’ home in Tipp County, northern Mississippi. Crawford told officers that he was unconscious and did not remember hitting her.

texas

Robert Roberson was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 16, but his case was halted Thursday by Texas’ top criminal court.

Roberson, 58, was set to become the first person to be sentenced to death in the US if convicted of a murder linked to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued that he hit his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, and shook her violently, causing severe head injuries that led to her death.

But Roberson says he never abused the girl. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers believes Roberson is innocent and has called for a new trial.

Roberson’s attorneys and some medical experts say her daughter died of complications related to pneumonia. He says his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence.

Arizona

Richard Kenneth Gerf will be executed by lethal injection on October 17 for the murders of four members of the same family. surprise Home.

Gerff, 55, pleaded guilty in 1993 to four counts of murder in the murders of Albert Luna Sr., his wife Patricia, their 18-year-old daughter Rochelle and their 5-year-old son Damian.

Prosecutors say Gerf blamed another Luna family member for a previous theft of household electronic items in his apartment and became obsessed with revenge.

Alabama

Anthony Todd Boyd is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas on October 23.

A judge sentenced Boyd to death for his role in the 1993 murder of Gregory Huguley in Talladega. Prosecutors said Boyd stuck tape on Huguley’s legs before another man poured gasoline on him for a $200 cocaine debt and set him on fire.

Boyd has long maintained his innocence and has said that he never participated in a murder.

tennessee

Harold Nicholls is scheduled to be executed on December 11.

Nichols, 64, was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of 21-year-old Karen Pulley in Hamilton County. Authorities said he broke into Puli’s home, raped her and hit her over the head multiple times with a board.

Nicholas was planned to be executed in August 2020, but the execution was delayed covid-19 pandemic.