Execution

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Sonam Sheth

By Sonam Sheth

Evening Politics Editor

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Twenty-nine men have died this year by court-ordered execution in the United States, and that number is set to rise on Thursday as Florida prepares to execute 59-year-old Curtis Windom via lethal injection.

Why It Matters

The 29 executions carried out so far this year exceed the 25 executions last year. It's also the highest number of executions in the United States since 2014, when 35 people were put to death.

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Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Utah have scheduled executions for later this year.

Execution

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What To Know

Florida has executed more people in 2025 than any other state, and Windom will be the 11th person to be put to death in the Sunshine State this year. Here are the U.S. states that have carried out the death sentence so far this year, in order of the number of inmates who were executed, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center:

Windom's Thursday execution comes after he was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend, Valerie Davis, her mother, Mary Lubin, and Johnnie Lee, a man he said owed him $2,000 in 1992. The Supreme Court rejected Windom's final appeal for a stay of execution on Wednesday.

Florida is also set to execute a 12th man, 63-year-old David Joseph Pittman, on September 17. The state has carried out the most death sentences in a single year since the death penalty was restored in 1976 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Florida's previous highest annual total was eight executions in 2014.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has taken a hardline stance on cracking down on crime and enforcing law and order and has encouraged pursuing the death penalty against some people who commit violent crimes.

He signed an executive order on January 20—his first day back in office—directing the attorney general to ensure that states have enough supply of lethal injection drugs to carry out executions.

The president also urged the attorney general to seek the death penalty "regardless of other factors" in cases involving the killing of law enforcement or other capital crimes "committed by an alien illegally present in this country." That directive was part of Trump's broader crackdown on immigration enforcement and border security.

Earlier this week, Trump also said that anyone who kills someone in Washington, D.C., should be subject to capital punishment.

"Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment," Trump said while speaking to reporters at a televised Cabinet meeting. "If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we're going to be seeking the death penalty, and that's a very strong preventative. And everybody that's heard it agrees with it."

What People Are Saying

Windom and Davis' daughter, Curtisia, told the Orlando Sentinel: "We've all been traumatized. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Life was not easy growing up. But if we could forgive him, I don't see why people on the street who haven't been through our pain have a right to say he should die."

The group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in part: "We acknowledge and honor the loss experienced by the families of these individuals. Still, we cannot honor the victims with more killings."

What Happens Next

Windom's execution is set to take place at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, August 28.

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.

Update 8/28/25, 5:55 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and context.

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