In 2025, the United States has already witnessed 25 executions by court order, with nine more scheduled in six different states before the year ends.
Michael B. Bell is slated to face execution in Florida on Tuesday, while Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah also have planned executions later this year.
Recently, executions have taken place in Mississippi and Florida, adding to those carried out in Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
This year’s count mirrors the number of executions conducted in both 2024 and 2018, which were the highest since 28 occurred in 2015.
Below, we explore recent and upcoming executions by state:
In Florida, Michael B. Bell, 54, will be executed for the 1995 murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith, whom he shot outside a Jacksonville bar in an attempted act of revenge.
Additionally, Edward J. Zakrzewski is set for execution on July 31 after killing his wife and two children in 1994, a case highlighted on “Unsolved Mysteries,” leading to his eventual surrender.
In Tennessee, Byron Black, 69, is scheduled for lethal injection on August 5 for the 1989 murder of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters.
His legal team is seeking a court order for the deactivation of a pacemaker-like device just before the execution, with a delay possible if approved.
They are also challenging his competence for execution at the state Supreme Court level.
Another inmate, Harold Nichols, 64, is set for lethal injection on December 11 for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pulley.
Alabama plans to execute David Lee Roberts, 59, using nitrogen gas on August 21, marking the seventh time this method will be used nationwide since Alabama adopted it last year.
Roberts was convicted of murdering Annetra Jones in 1992 and allegedly tried to obscure evidence by arson.
Geoffrey T. West, 49, is also scheduled for nitrogen gas execution on September 25 for a 1997 murder during a robbery.
Utah intends to execute Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, by firing squad on September 5, in what would be only the sixth firing squad execution in the U.S. since 1977.
Menzies, on death row for 37 years for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, faces mental competency reassessments due to recent cognitive decline.
In Texas, Blaine Milam, 35, will be executed by lethal injection on September 25 for the 2008 killing of his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter, during an alleged exorcism.
His girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, was convicted of the same crime and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
Missouri’s Lance C. Shockley faces execution on October 14, convicted of murdering Sgt. Dewayne Graham in 2005.
Prosecutors argued the motive behind the killing was Graham’s investigation into Shockley on charges of involuntary manslaughter and accident evasion.
Lastly, in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine has postponed five 2025 executions until 2028 due to complications in procuring lethal injection drugs.
This decision reflects the pharmaceutical industry’s reluctance to supply necessary compounds, leading DeWine to project that no further executions will occur during his current gubernatorial term, which extends through 2026.