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Gone quiet · last update Oct 5, 2026 / Texas

Texas's executions in the fall of 2026

Overview · reviewed October 24, 2026

Texas carried out a run of executions in the fall of 2026. Among those put to death were both men convicted of a 2005 triple killing.[1][2] Separately, the state's highest criminal court rejected a lower court's finding that death row prisoner Melissa Lucio is innocent.[3]

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Separately, the state's highest criminal court rejected a lower court's finding that death row prisoner Melissa Lucio is innocent.[3]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2026-09-14 (UTC): 4%, 18 of 480 tracked outlets (3 left, 12 center, 3 right)Week of 2026-09-21 (UTC): 3%, 16 of 479 tracked outlets (2 left, 12 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-09-28 (UTC): 7%, 35 of 476 tracked outlets (7 left, 22 center, 6 right)Week of 2026-10-05 (UTC): 19%, 91 of 479 tracked outlets (26 left, 42 center, 23 right)Week of 2026-10-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRight

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings.We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 5 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (4 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Oct 5, 202626422391 of 47919%
Sep 28, 2026722635 of 4767%
Sep 21, 2026212216 of 4793%
Sep 14, 2026312318 of 4804%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Oct 5, 2026 · first reported · Headline from Newsweek

    First Execution Since Christa Pike Shows Tennessee's 'Incompetence'—Pastor

Background

Texas executed LeJames Norman on September 16, 2026, the state's fifth execution of the year. He had been convicted in the 2005 shooting deaths of three people during an attempted robbery at his neighbor's home in rural Texas.[1] A week later, the state executed Ker'Sean Ramey, the other man convicted in the killings.[2]

The next execution followed Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike, which is covered in a separate arc. On October 7, Texas executed Jamaal Howard for the 2000 killing of a convenience store clerk. It was the first execution in the US since the Tennessee attempt, and Howard's lawyers had argued that the same drug posed the same risks. It was expected to be the nation's 30th execution of the year.[4]

A separate case turned on a claim of innocence. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a lower court's finding that Melissa Lucio, on death row for 18 years, is innocent in the death of her 2-year-old daughter. Her case had drawn bipartisan calls for her release.[3]

Supporting stories (4)
  1. Texas to execute man convicted in triple murder as a Georgia execution is put on hold
  2. Texas is set to execute a second man convicted in 2005 triple killing
  3. Texas appeals court rejects ruling of innocence for woman on death row for 18 years
  4. Texas carries out nation's first execution since Christa Pike's failed lethal injection

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 5 recorded updates

October 2026

  1. Texas carries out nation's first execution since Christa Pike's failed lethal injectionHeadline from NBC 6 South Florida · 30 outlets
  2. Christa Pike, who survived an execution attempt, is discharged from hospital, attorney saysHeadline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth · 96 outlets

September 2026

  1. Texas appeals court rejects ruling of innocence for woman on death row for 18 yearsHeadline from KOB 4 · 11 outlets
  2. Texas is set to execute a second man convicted in 2005 triple killingHeadline from WCBD News 2 · 13 outlets
  3. Texas to execute man convicted in triple murder as a Georgia execution is put on holdHeadline from The Guardian · 19 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →