Overview

• Florida executed 72-year-old Samuel Smithers by lethal injection at Florida State Prison, the state's 14th execution of 2025 and a new annual record.
• Missouri executed Lance Shockley after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeals and Governor Mike Kehoe refused clemency; Shockley maintained his innocence and sought modern DNA testing.
• Mississippi plans to execute Charles Ray Crawford on Wednesday and Arizona plans to execute Richard Djerf on Friday, putting October on track to be the busiest month for executions since May 2011.
• Outlets report differing national totals for 2025—either 35 or 37 executions—with one count listing 31 lethal injections, four via nitrogen and two by firing squad, a method mix that UN experts have condemned in part.
• Twenty-three states have abolished the death penalty and three maintain moratoria, yet executions continue in retention states as courts and governors reject last-minute bids.