The United States has carried out six court-ordered executions this year, with plans for 12 more in six different states before 2025 concludes.
Arizona, Florida, and Oklahoma are set to execute three men by March 20. Other states with upcoming scheduled executions in 2025 include Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, although Ohio’s governor has consistently postponed these as their dates approach.
The most recent execution occurred on Friday when Brad Sigmon was executed by firing squad in South Carolina. Sigmon, who murdered his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001, became the first U.S. inmate to be executed by this method in 15 years. He chose a firing squad over the electric chair and lethal injection.
In addition to Sigmon, Texas, Alabama, and Florida have also conducted executions this year, with Sigmon being the second to face execution in South Carolina. If all imminent executions proceed as planned by March 20, the U.S. would have executed nine individuals in the span of three months—more than any other three-month period since August to October 2024, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center.
Although Louisiana intended to execute a man using nitrogen gas on March 18, federal intervention has halted the plan with a court order. Similarly, in Texas, an appellate court temporarily delayed the execution of a man slated for lethal injection on Thursday.
Let’s review the upcoming executions across various states:
**Texas**
Texas administers its death penalty through lethal injection. Moises Sandoval Mendoza, 41, faces execution on April 23 for strangling a woman in 2004 and subsequently disposing of her body.
Scheduled for May 20, Matthew Johnson, 49, was convicted of a heinous crime involving an arson at a gas station, leading to the victim’s death.
Earlier this year, Richard Lee Tabler and Steven Lawayne Nelson were executed for murders committed in 2004 and 2011, respectively.
**Arizona**
Arizona plans to execute Aaron Gunches by lethal injection on March 19. Gunches was found guilty of a 2002 murder.
Despite an opportunity for reprieve, he has not sought clemency. Should this execution proceed, it would be Arizona’s first under Governor Katie Hobbs, marking the state’s return to capital punishment after more than two years.
**Oklahoma**
On March 20, Wendell Grissom is scheduled to die by lethal injection. Convicted for a murder in Blaine County, his plea for clemency was denied, though his lawyers highlighted unintroduced evidence of his brain damage during the trial.
**Florida**
In Florida, Edward Thomas James and Michael Tanzi are slated for executions on March 20 and April 8, respectively, for crimes committed in the early ’90s. Earlier this year, James Dennis Ford was executed for a double homicide dating back to 1997.
**Tennessee**
Tennessee’s Supreme Court has set four execution dates for 2025, with individuals like Oscar Smith and Byron Black among those slated for execution later this year. Repeated delays and procedural issues previously postponed Smith’s execution. Tennessee’s Department of Correction recently updated its execution protocol to use pentobarbital.
**Ohio**
Ohio’s scheduled executions for Timothy Coleman and Kareem Jackson are uncertain. Governor Mike DeWine has delayed executions, with no expected resumption during his tenure, extending to 2026.
