Over four consecutive days this week, four executions are scheduled to take place in four different U.S. states, a rare convergence that reflects a broader uptick in capital punishment activity nationwide. While not unprecedented, this clustering of executions comes at a time when several states have resumed carrying out the death penalty, and former President Donald Trump has been calling for its expansion at the federal level.
Death Penalty Use Rises Amid Shifting State Policies
According to Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project, a string of executions across multiple states is “not that unusual,” but such events have become increasingly uncommon in recent years as capital punishment has declined nationwide. The use of the death penalty peaked in 1999 with nearly 100 executions but dropped steadily through the 2010s, hitting historic lows during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the pace is picking up again. The first half of 2025 has already seen a notable rise in executions. Including this week’s scheduled cases, six executions are set to take place in June alone. If they all proceed, the U.S. will have carried out 25 executions this year to date, matching the total for all of 2024 and marking the highest midyear tally since 2011, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Several states are playing key roles in this trend. Arizona, Louisiana, and Tennessee resumed executions in 2025 after years-long pauses, joining South Carolina and Indiana, which restarted executions in 2024.
Trump’s Executive Order Adds Political Pressure
While each state acts independently in its death penalty enforcement, former President Trump’s public stance and new executive order may be influencing their decisions. On his first day back in office, Trump signed the “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety” executive order. Although the order only applies to federal executions, experts suggest it may serve as a political green light for state officials who support capital punishment.
“If a state is inclined to conduct executions anyway, Trump’s rhetoric would be the wind behind them pushing them to do that,” said Corinna Lain, a law professor at the University of Richmond and author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection.
This federal-state interaction is playing out in real time in Oklahoma, where one of the week’s scheduled executions is moving forward due in part to Attorney General Pam Bondi citing Trump’s executive order to approve a prisoner transfer previously denied under the Biden administration.
Matt Wells, deputy director of Reprieve US, an anti-death penalty advocacy group, called this “a dark time in U.S. capital punishment,” citing both the resumption of executions and states’ increasing reliance on controversial or alternative methods such as nitrogen hypoxia.
Through his executive order on the death penalty,” Wells said, “President Trump has sent a strong signal to states to push forward with executions.
The Four Scheduled Executions This Week
Alabama: Gregory Hunt (Tuesday – Nitrogen Gas)
Gregory Hunt, who has been on Alabama’s death row for over 30 years, is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a method only recently introduced in the U.S.
Alabama was the first state to use this method earlier this year, when Kenneth Smith’s execution lasted about 15 minutes. Hunt’s case would mark Alabama’s fifth use of nitrogen hypoxia and the second this year.
Hunt was convicted for the brutal 1988 murder of Karen Lane, his girlfriend at the time. Court records detail Lane’s extensive injuries, over 60 wounds, a dozen fractured ribs, a fractured breastbone, and signs of sexual assault. Hunt is currently representing himself in court, according to the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
Florida: Anthony Wainwright (Tuesday – Lethal Injection)
Florida inmate Anthony Wainwright faces execution by lethal injection on Tuesday for the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, a mother of two and aspiring nurse.
Wainwright and another man had escaped from a North Carolina prison and, after a series of crimes including car theft and weapons burglary, abducted Gayheart from a supermarket parking lot in Lake City, Florida. They drove her to a remote area where they raped, strangled, and shot her.
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| Carmen Gayheart |
Gayheart’s sister, Maria David, remembered her as “beautiful inside and out,” a devoted wife, and a loving mother. “This is just going to be closure for the legal aspect,” David said. “It doesn’t bring closure for me, or any member of my family.”
Wainwright’s co-conspirator died in 2023. According to Governor Ron DeSantis’ office, he has signed seven death warrants so far in 2025. If June’s executions proceed, the state will be just one short of its post-1976 annual record.
Oklahoma: John Hanson (Thursday – Lethal Injection)
John Hanson is set to be executed Thursday for his role in the 1999 murder of Mary Agnes Bowles, a 77-year-old Tulsa resident.
Hanson and his co-defendant Victor Miller abducted Bowles from a shopping mall and took her to a remote “dirt pit,” where prosecutors say Miller shot one man while Hanson fatally shot Bowles.
Hanson’s attorneys argue that Miller confessed to being the shooter and that the sentencing disparity, Miller received life while Hanson faces death, is unjust. Hanson was also serving a federal life sentence, but Oklahoma officials requested his transfer earlier this year. This time, the request was granted, with AG Pam Bondi citing Trump’s executive order.
Bowles’ niece, Sara Parker Mooney, said the family has endured years of legal battles. “Mary’s murder was indescribably difficult then, and it still is now,” she wrote. “We are ready to be done with this matter.”
South Carolina: Stephen Stanko (Friday – Lethal Injection)
Stephen Stanko is scheduled for execution on Friday for the 2005 murder of Henry Lee Turner, although he also received a second death sentence for killing his girlfriend, Laura Ling, the same year.
According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Turner’s murder is the basis for Stanko’s death warrant because he has exhausted his appeals in that case.
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| Henry Turner |
Stanko was a former librarian and author who had served time for assault and kidnapping prior to the murders. The case drew national attention due to its brutality and his high public profile.
What Comes Next?
This week’s executions reflect more than just a rise in capital punishment, they signal a potentially broader political and legal shift in how and when the death penalty is used in the United States. As federal and state governments reassess their positions, and controversial execution methods gain traction, the question now becomes:
Will this surge in executions reshape the future of the death penalty in America?
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