Lawyers for the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk say he shouldn’t be eligible for the death penalty because the shooter hit the “intended target” during an event attended by thousands of people last year in Utah. Defendant Tyler Robinson’s attorneys say prosecutors have not proven that others who attended Kirk’s Sept. 10 event at Utah Valley University were in danger by the shooting. That's a potentially aggravating factor under state law that would make it a capital crime. Prosecutors have said they have “overwhelming” evidence against Robinson. Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and has not entered a plea.

Tennessee, Alabama, and Oklahoma plan to execute inmates on the same day this week. That would make Thursday the first time in nearly 16 years that three executions occur on the same day in the U.S. Robin Maher from the Death Penalty Information Center notes that a small number of states drive execution numbers. Tennessee plans to execute Anthony Darrell Hines, three months after the attempted execution of another inmate was called off because of a problem inserting an IV. Alabama is set to execute Jeremy Williams, who waived his appeals, for the 2021 murder of a 5-year-old girl. Oklahoma plans to execute Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez for the 2003 murder of his girlfriend.

Florida has become the first state in nearly a decade to carry out two executions in one day, putting to death an ex-police officer convicted of murder and only the second octogenarian known to receive a lethal injection in modern U.S. history. Ex-police officer James Aren Duckett was pronounced dead after a three-drug injection Tuesday afternoon at Florida State Prison. He was convicted of the 1987 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. Hours later, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone was executed for the 1986 killing of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. Florida has now carried out 12 executions this year — more than all other states combined. In 2017, Arkansas executed two men in a single day.

The Minnesota man who killed Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Vance Boelter was sentenced Thursday after survivors of the attack and family and friends of the victims spoke about the enduring trauma of that night and the loss. Boelter pleaded guilty last month in the June 2025 fatal shooting of the former house speaker and her husband, Mark. The 59-year-old also pleaded guilty to attacking Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Boelter avoids the death penalty with his plea.