Texas carries out first US execution of 2026 for 1998 double murder

Texas carried out the first execution of the year in the United States on Wednesday, putting to death a man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend.

Charles Thompson, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:50 pm Central Time (0050 GMT) at a state prison in Huntsville, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Thompson had been sentenced to death for the 1998 murders of his ex-girlfriend, Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her boyfriend, Darren Cain, 30. The couple was shot at Hayslip’s apartment in a Houston suburb. Cain died at the scene, while Hayslip succumbed to her injuries in hospital a week later.

Wade Hayslip, Dennise’s son from a previous marriage, who was 13 when his mother was killed, had planned to attend the execution. In an interview with USA Today, he described Thompson’s death as “the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one.”

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“I’m looking forward to the new one,” he said.

Execution trends in the US

Last year, the United States carried out 47 executions, the highest since 2009, when 52 inmates were put to death. Florida led with 19 executions in 2025, followed by Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, which each had five.

Of last year’s executions, 39 were carried out by lethal injection, three by firing squad, and five by nitrogen hypoxia, a method in which nitrogen gas is pumped into a face mask, causing suffocation. The United Nations has condemned nitrogen hypoxia as cruel and inhumane.

Currently, the death penalty is abolished in 23 US states, while California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have moratoriums in place.

Trump’s stance on capital punishment

President Donald Trump is a staunch supporter of capital punishment and has made its restoration and expansion a central pillar of his second-term justice policy. He views the death penalty as an “essential tool” for deterring heinous crimes and has actively worked to increase its use since returning to office.

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On his first day in office (January 20, 2025), President Trump signed Executive Order 14164, titled “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety."