Twenty-eight men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and nine other people are scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025.
Tennessee on Tuesday morning. Black, 69, said he was hurting badly shortly after the lethal injection began, according to several witnesses.
Black had a in his heart and his attorneys said the device could shock him several times once the lethal chemicals took effect. He was convicted of the 1998 killings of his girlfriend and her two children.
Florida put to death on July 31 for killing his wife and two children decades ago. That was the state's ninth execution of 2025 and the most recent execution until Tuesday.
Alabama, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Utah also have scheduled executions for later this year.
Executions have been carried out this year in , , , , , , , , and .
The 28 executions this year and is the most since 35 people were put to death in prisons around the U.S. in 2014.
The uptick in executions can be traced to aggressive Republican governors and attorney generals pushing to get through lengthy appeals processes and get executions done, said John Blume, the director of the Cornell Death Penalty Project.
A sweeping signed by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office aimed at urging prosecutors to seek the death penalty and preserving capital punishment in the states also may have fueled the increase, Blume said.
All but one execution this year has occurred in states run by Republican governors, with Arizona the exception.
Here's a look at recent executions and those scheduled for the rest of the year, by state:
Tennessee
was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder for the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters in Nashville.
Judges refused to require the to deactivate the implanted defibrillation device — similar to a pacemaker — prior to his execution Tuesday.
Black died at 10:43 a.m., prison officials said. It was about 10 minutes after the execution started and Black had talked about being in pain as the injection got underway.
Black looked around the room as the execution began and could be heard sighing and breathing heavily. All seven media witnesses to the execution agreed he appeared to be in discomfort.
Black’s defense team will carefully review autopsy results, EKG data and information from the defibrillator to determine what exactly happened during the execution, his lawyer Kelley Henry said.
Henry said she was especially concerned about his head movement and complaints of pain because the massive dose of pentobarbital used to kill inmates is supposed to rapidly leave them unconscious.
“The fact that he was able to raise his head several times and express pain tells you that the pentobarbital was not acting the way the state’s experts claim it acts,†Henry said.
, 64, is also scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 11. Nichols was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of Karen Pulley in Hamilton County.
Florida
Florida has set its 10th and 11th executions of the year for later this month.
is scheduled to be executed Aug. 19. He abducted a woman from an insurance office and killed her 42 years ago. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Aug. 28 for .
, 67, who is scheduled to be executed Aug. 19, was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted sexual battery in the June 14, 1982, Bay County killing of Janet White.
Windom, 59, shot a man over a $2,000 debt, then killed the mother of his child and the woman’s mother in February 1992 in Orlando. He is scheduled to die Aug. 28.
Alabama
An Alabama judge has of , who had been scheduled to be put to death by nitrogen gas on Aug. 21.
Roberts was convicted of killing Annetra Jones in 1992 while he was a houseguest at Jones’ boyfriend’s home in Marion County. Prosecutors said Roberts packed his belongings, stole money and shot Jones three times in the head while she slept on the couch. Roberts set fire to the home to hide evidence.
A Marion County judge issued a stay so Roberts can have a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is too mentally ill to be put to death. The execution will be on hold at least until a report from the Alabama Department of Mental Health is finished.
49, is scheduled to die by nitrogen gas on Sept. 25 for the killing of convenience store clerk Margaret Parrish Berry during a 1997 robbery in Attalla.
If carried out, it would be the nation’s sixth execution , a method Alabama began using last year as an alternative to lethal injection. The method involves supplying nitrogen gas via a respirator mask to an inmate, causing the person to lose consciousness and .
Utah
, 67, is scheduled to die by firing squad on Sept. 5. He would become only the
Menzies, who has dementia, has been for abducting and killing mother of three Maurine Hunsaker, 26, in 1986.
Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant a month after he ruled Menzies “consistently and rationally†despite recent cognitive decline. Attorneys for Menzies have petitioned the court for a reassessment.
Texas
, 35, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Sept. 25. Milam was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter during what the couple had said was part of an “exorcism†in Rusk County in East Texas in 2008.
Milam’s girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16.
Roberson, 58, could become the first person in the U.S. to be put to death for a murder conviction tied to . He was convicted of the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine.
Prosecutors argued he violently shook his daughter back and forth, causing severe head trauma. His lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia.
Indiana
Indiana set a tentative execution date of Oct. 10 for , who was convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 2001. But that date could change.
Missouri
is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 14, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
Shockley was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Dewayne Graham outside his home in Carter County in 2005.
Testimony at the trial indicated Graham was killed because he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.
Ohio
Earlier this year, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine postponed five executions scheduled for 2025. All five have been delayed until 2028.
In postponing the executions, DeWine has cited used in lethal injections due to pharmaceutical suppliers’ unwillingness.
DeWine has said that he does not anticipate any further executions will happen during his term, which runs through 2026.
___
Associated Press writers Kim Chandler and Jeffrey Collins contributed.
