Florida exє𝔠utє𝘴 19th Prisoner of 2026 as Three States Carry Out dєatᩚh Penalties on the Same Day

Florida has reached a grim milestone in its use of capital punishment, executing its 19th prisoner of 2026 and tying the state’s record for the highest number of executions in a single year since the dєatᩚh penalty was reinstated in 1976.

The latest exє𝔠uti☉n took place on November 5, when Jesse Guardado, 64, was put to dєatᩚh by lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n at a state prison in Starke, Florida. His exє𝔠uti☉n came as Alabama and Indiana also carried out executions on the same day, an unusually rare occurrence in the United States.

Guardado had been convicted of fatally stabbing 75-year-old Jackie Malone inside her Walton County home in 2004. He also stole jewelry, cash and other valuables, which prosecutors said he used to buy drugs.

In a particularly troubling detail, Malone had previously helped Guardado find employment and housing.

Before his exє𝔠uti☉n, Guardado offered an apology to the victim’s relatives and his own family.

“I would like to once again apologize for the pain and suffering I’ve caused to the victim’s family and my own family as well,” he said in his final statement.

He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m.

Florida’s exє𝔠uti☉n total now matches the previous state record of 19 executions, set in 2025. The state has accounted for more than half of the 35 executions carried out nationwide so far this year, according to the dєatᩚh Penalty Information Center.

The state’s rapid pace of executions has drawn national attention under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has defended the dєatᩚh penalty as a way to deliver justice to victims’ families after years of waiting.

Two additional executions were scheduled in Florida before the end of the year, potentially pushing the state beyond its previous record.

Two other executions on the same day

The November 5 executions were not limited to Florida.

In Alabama, Michael Shannon Taylor, 54, was executed for the 1991 murders of Ivan Moore, 83, and his wife, Lucille Moore, 79, during a home robbery in Gadsden. The couple had been beaten to dєatᩚh with a metal bar.

In Indiana, Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, was executed for setting a house fire in 2010 that killed his girlfriend’s two children, Alyssa Lynch and Caleb Lynch.

The three executions on the same day highlighted the continuing national divide over capital punishment, particularly as California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to commute hundreds of dєatᩚh sentences before leaving office.

For Florida, however, the latest exє𝔠uti☉n marks another significant moment in a year that has seen the state carry out the dєatᩚh penalty at an extraordinary pace.

Source: DAILYMAIL