Executed junkie ‘sputters and twitches’ after receiving lethal injection for stabbing woman, 75, to death on day of three executions

Three men were executed by lethal injection in Florida, Indiana and Alabama on the same day, an uncommon event that has renewed attention on the use of the death penalty in the United States. Florida inmate Jesse Guardado, 64, was convicted of killing a woman who had helped him find work and housing; Indiana’s Jeffrey Weisheit and Alabama’s Michael Taylor were convicted of separate double murders.

Guardado was pronounced dead at 6.13pm local time after apologising to the victims’ families. Witnesses reported that he breathed heavily, sputtered and twitched before a medic confirmed his death. Florida has carried out more than half of the 35 executions in the US so far this year, with Governor Ron DeSantis signing warrants for a state-record 19 executions in 2025. It was the second time since August that three states had executed inmates on one day, an occurrence last reported in 2010.