Death Penalty News

A Death Row inmate from the Florida Keys who tied up and strangled a pregnant third-grade teacher and her husband after breaking into their home more than three decades ago may soon be executed. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a death warrant for Thomas Mitchell Overton, 70, who was convicted and condemned to die for the Aug. 22, 1991, murders of Susan “Missy” MacIvor, 29, and Michael MacIvor, 30. The MacIvors were expecting their first child, planning to name him Kyle Patrick. Overton’s execution is scheduled for Nov. 19 at Florida State Prison in Raiford. It’s scheduled to be the 20th execution in the state so far this year and the first involving a case out of Monroe County. Last year, Michael Tanzi, 48, was executed for murdering a Miami Herald employee he carjacked and sexually assaulted in the Keys in 2000.

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against a woman charged with murder in the 2025 deaths of her twin toddlers. Andrea Shaw, 23, has pleaded not guilty and has said the 18-month-old twins became sick and died after receiving flu shots and routine childhood vaccinations. But Payette County Prosecutor Mike Duke wrote in court documents that an autopsy revealed symptoms consistent with smothering and wrote that suffocation “is the only conceivable explanation” for their deaths.

A 28-year-old Tampa rapper convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child has asked a Florida judge to sentence him to death, waiving his lawyers’ mitigation arguments. Billy Adams III’s unusual request—and the jury’s split recommendation—sets up a complex sentencing hearing on December 1. Billy Adams III, a 28-year-old Tampa rapper known professionally as Ace NH, has asked a Florida judge to sentence him to death following his conviction for the January 2023 killings of his pregnant girlfriend, Alana Sims, and her unborn child. His request, made in a handwritten letter filed with the court on October 12, 2026, comes after a jury recommended life imprisonment for Sims’ murder but voted 8–4 in favor of execution for the death of her unborn child.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Tuesday that she has commuted the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, 53, to life imprisonment without parole, citing concerns about the reliability of the evidence against him. Mr. Johnson has long maintained his innocence in the 1995 shooting death of a Jefferson County deputy sheriff who was moonlighting as a security guard at a Birmingham hotel. “In the 27 executions I have overseen, I have said we review each case with careful consideration, taking into account all the facts,” the governor said in a press release. “When presented with Mr. Johnson’s case, I had concerns there was not enough direct evidence to carry out the most serious punishment, death.”

Jeffrey Weisheit set his house on fire in 2010, killing his girlfriend’s two young children he was watching.  The Indiana Parole Board will now make a recommendation in the coming days to Governor Mike Braun on whether to grant clemency to condemned killer Jeffrey Weisheit.  Jeffrey is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 5 for the 2010 murder of his girlfriend's 2 children in Vanderburgh County. 

The failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee calls attention to Ohio’s own death penalty laws, as the high-stakes governor race has the potential to end Gov. Mike DeWine’s almost eight-year-long freeze on any death penalty executions.  According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are currently 112 inmates on death row in Ohio, with the last execution occurring in 2018.  DeWine has held an over 7-year-long, unofficial moratorium on state executions throughout his governorship by repeatedly issuing reprieves, which are temporary delays on executions. On Aug. 7, DeWine did so for 3 executions set to happen next year, pushing all of them to 2030.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 October 2026: Authorities at Ghezelhesar Prison have verbally notified drug death-row prisoners in Unit 2 that those from provincial towns and cities are to be transferred to their home jurisdictions, a move detainees fear is intended to facilitate their executions. This push to disperse the ward follows two successful strikes staged by Unit 2 prisoners in October 2025 and July 2026, which forced authorities to temporarily halt drug-related executions at the prison.

Matters have passed beyond legal concerns in the Islamic Republic. On the other hand, it is equally clear that as long as the Islamic Republic remains standing, regardless of the degree of instability and political lawlessness, the performance of its institutions must be examined. One cannot ignore and leave unspoken a reality that cuts to the bone and inflicts open wounds until the day of reckoning arrives. The institutions of this regime pretend to adhere to the rule of law before the international community. It would be naive to assume that without efforts to expose this lie, global circles will believe otherwise. Before thousands more protesting Iranians are killed, the struggle must continue so that international judicial bodies might better understand these criminals masquerading as lawful authorities, read their hands, and confront them.

Oct 21 (Reuters)—Burkina Faso’s transitional legislature, the 71-member Assemblée législative du peuple (People’s Legislative Assembly), unanimously adopted a revised penal code on Tuesday that restores the death penalty, nearly a decade after the West African country abolished capital punishment, the Justice Ministry said in a statement. The revised code reintroduces the death penalty for crimes including terrorism (for authors and accomplices), espionage, treason, parricide, and the importation of expired or banned products that result in death, according to state-run media and the ministry. The new text is a substantial revision of the 2018 penal code and also toughens penalties for other offenses, such as certain large-scale economic crimes.

Florida puts 77-year-old man to death for a deputy's killing in its 18th execution this year  Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year on Tuesday under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ aggressive use of the death penalty in his final term.  William Reaves, 77, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting death of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski. 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, October 19, rejected an appeal by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, leaving him facing a possible death sentence. The decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that allowed former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to withdraw a plea agreement under which Mohammed would have pleaded guilty in exchange for life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court provided no explanation for its decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate.

Christa and I have been communicating regularly via a messaging system on her prison table for over a year. Her experience is proof that she and other guilty individuals on death row are not monsters As a former Jewish prison chaplain and co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, I have communicated via phone and computer messaging for years with many individuals on American death rows before their ultimate execution. One of our long-time correspondents, Christa Pike , catapulted into international news late last month when she survived two torturous doses of lethal drugs in a botched execution attempt by the state of Tennessee.

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - One-third of Americans think the government should try a second time to put a convicted criminal to death if a first execution attempt fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee. The four-day poll, completed on Monday, showed 39% of respondents thought the government should instead allow convicts to serve life in prison following a failed execution, while 26% were not sure which was a better approach.

Iranian authorities executed 50-year-old Ali Asghar Sanei in Shahroud Central Prison following his conviction on “drug-related offenses.” According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the execution took place at dawn on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. Sanei was from Semnan. Hengaw sources reported that he worked as a tiler in the construction industry before his arrest approximately three years ago for transporting nine kilograms of heroin.

There is massive outrage over the way two Bangladeshi migrant workers have been executed by Saudi Arabia. They were executed for "immoral acts" in a Mecca mosque, said Saudi media. But the opacity surrounding the execution process, including the lack of details of their crimes, and Dhaka being informed only after they were killed, have led to a backlash. There is outrage over Saudi Arabia executing two Bangladeshi nationals accused of committing immoral acts in a mosque in the holy city of Mecca. The executions have raised questions about their alleged crimes, the opacity of the process, the fairness of their trials, and whether Dhaka was informed beforehand and could have, in any way, helped save the couple.

A criminal court in Algeria on October 18, 2026, sentenced two men to death for the illegal importation and sale of 144 kg of synthetic drugs—approximately 235,000 ecstasy tablets.  This is the second death sentence issued in the country in two weeks under the anti-drug trafficking law adopted in July 2025, The Rio Times reports. According to Algerian state radio and the newspaper Echorouk, the court of first instance in Dar El Beida heard the case of eight members of the network. Prosecutors sought the death penalty for all defendants. The other accused were sentenced to terms of 10 years in prison or acquitted.

Saudi Arabia carried out a series of executions in mid-October, including that of a woman convicted of killing her mother and attempting to kill her sister, alongside five men in the Eastern Province. Official statements described the five as terrorists; human rights groups described them as political prisoners sentenced under discretionary (ta’zir) penalties, one of whom was a child at the time of the alleged acts. The cases illustrate the kingdom’s continued use of the death penalty under Sharia, its stated commitment to public order and justice, and criticism from human rights organizations over the scope of capital punishment.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear appeals from three men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who are currently awaiting trial at the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison.   The justices turned away petitions from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Walid bin ‘Attash, without explanation.  Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself from the Mohammed and al-Hawsawi petition.  The three prisoners were seeking to reinstate plea deals in which they agreed to plead guilty and give detailed confessions about their roles in the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history. In exchange, prosecutors would not have sought the death penalty.

Two death sentences in Meerut have renewed attention on women facing capital punishment. Historical records and recent data reveal how rare executions remain On October 14, the Meerut District and Sessions Court sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil Shukla to death for murdering her husband, Saurabh Rajput, and concealing his dismembered body in a blue plastic drum filled with cement. On October 16, another Meerut court sentenced Ravita Kashyap and her partner Amardeep to death for murdering her husband, Amit Kashyap, and staging his death to resemble a snakebite .