Three States, Three Executions, One Day: What Happened on August 13, 2026

On the morning of August 13, 2026, Oklahoma executed Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, the first of three lethal injections scheduled across three states that day. Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. at the Oklahoma state penitentiary in McAlester (The Guardian). He had been sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of his common-law wife, Olimpia Fisher.

About one hour later, Tennessee carried out the execution of Darrell Hines, 66. Hines was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins, a motel maid and mother of four. The Tennessee Department of Correction had issued a media advisory on July 14, 2026, inviting applications for witness slots and setting the execution for 10:00 a.m. CDT on August 13. The department selected seven media witnesses and two alternates for the proceeding (Tennessee Department of Correction). The advisory identified the condemned as Anthony Hines; subsequent reporting by The Guardian and the Associated Press referred to him as Darrell Hines.

A third execution was scheduled for the same day in Alabama. Jeremy Williams, 42, was set to be executed for the rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland in Georgia in 2021. Williams pleaded guilty to the killing and declined to appeal. That means he gave up the right to challenge his sentence in higher courts, a process that typically delays executions by years or decades (The Guardian; Associated Press).

These three executions on a single day come as execution numbers are rising nationally. In 2025, the United States carried out 47 executions, nearly double the 25 conducted the year before, according to The Guardian and the Death Penalty Information Center (The Guardian; DPIC). Florida accounted for a disproportionate share of that increase, conducting 19 executions in 2025 under Republican governor Ron DeSantis.

The three men executed on August 13 committed their crimes decades apart. Cuesta-Rodriguez's crime occurred in 2003. Hines's occurred in 1985, meaning he spent roughly 40 years on death row before being executed. Williams's crime was the most recent, committed in 2021.

Most people sentenced to death do not face execution quickly. After a death sentence is handed down, the convicted person can file a series of appeals, which are requests for higher courts to review the case for legal errors. This process can take decades. Williams chose to skip that process entirely by pleading guilty and waiving his right to appeal.

Having three executions on the same day is uncommon but not unheard of. The last time multiple states carried out executions on the same day was during the 2025 surge, when Florida's busy execution schedule occasionally overlapped with those of other states. Whether August 13 turns out to be a one-off or part of a continuing trend will depend on how many execution dates are set in the remaining months of 2026.

Each of the three states involved has its own history with the death penalty. Oklahoma resumed executions in 2021 after a six-year pause caused by concerns over its lethal injection procedures. Tennessee had also paused its executions while reviewing its methods. Alabama has been one of the most active execution states in recent years, though it faced scrutiny after a botched lethal injection in 2022 that led to a temporary halt and changes to its procedures.

The key thing to understand is that each state runs its own execution system. There is no national authority that coordinates when states carry out executions. Each state chooses its own method and drugs, and its governor and courts set the schedule. The fact that three executions happened on the same day was a coincidence of independent decisions, not a coordinated plan.

Across all three states, the basic legal steps are similar: a death sentence is imposed by a jury or judge, and then the convicted person can go through multiple rounds of appeals and, finally, ask the governor for clemency, meaning a reduction or cancellation of the sentence. Williams skipped most of these steps by pleading guilty and declining to appeal. Cuesta-Rodriguez and Hines went through the entire process, with Hines's case lasting long enough to span multiple presidencies and changes to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The broader context here is one of pace and direction. For people who work in criminal justice and constitutional law, the August 13 executions are a data point in a year that may show whether the 2025 rise in executions was a temporary spike or the beginning of a sustained increase. The three cases, with their different timelines and methods, offer a snapshot of how the death penalty works in practice in 2026: different in approach, staggered across time, but arriving at the same outcome.