2 men executed on same day: Anthony Wainwright in Florida, Gregory Hunt in Alabama
Florida executed Anthony Wainwright by lethal injection just after 6 p.m. ET for the 1994 rape and murder of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a married mother of two and nursing student who was kidnapped in broad daylight in a grocery store parking lot.
Less than an hour later, Alabama used the controversial nitrogen gas method to execute Gregory Hunt for the 1988 rape and murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane, a woman he had been dating for a month.
"It seems to me there's enough days in the year that executions shouldn't have to be stacked on top of each other," said the Rev. Jeff Hood, a death row spiritual adviser who has witnessed nine executions and said he had to make an "unfathomable" choice between whether to be in person to support Wainwright in Florida or Hunt in Alabama.
He chose to be in the death chamber with Wainwright.
The double executions - meaning inmates who were put to death on the same day but in different states - mark the nation's 20th and 21st executions of 2025. They come as the U.S. is on pace to put more inmates to death this year than any other in the past decade, though the nation is still far from its busiest execution year ever: 98 in 1999.
Here's what you need to know about the executions.
'A remarkable development': States expanding their execution methods to firing squad, more
Alabama executed Hunt by the controversial nitrogen gas method at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, and he was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CT. It was the fifth nitrogen gas execution in the state since January 2024, and the sixth in the nation overall.
When the curtains to the death chamber opened, Hunt was strapped to a gurney, wrapped in a white sheet and had a mask over his face, according to Alex Gladden, a witness to the execution for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network.
At 5:57 p.m., Hunt began gasping and lifted his head. Then his entire body began convulsing. He lifted his head again two minutes later before his head fell back and he groaned loudly, Gladden observed.
Hunt's head continued to move and he kept gasping for several minutes before he appeared to take his last breath at 6:04 p.m. His left fist remained clenched long afterward.
Witness accounts from the previous four nitrogen gas executions in Alabama describe "suffering, including conscious terror for several minutes, shaking, gasping, and other evidence of distress," Louisiana Chief District Judge Shelly Dick wrote in an opinion that temporarily blocked the nitrogen gas execution of Jessie Hoffman in her state in March.
That violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment, inmate advocates say. The states using the method defend it as effective and constitutional, and one official in another state considering approving the method recently said that it may very well be painful, according to reporting by the Ohio Capital Journal.
'The Constitution doesn't guarantee a pain-free death," said Lou Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Journal reported. 'We don't want to cause them unnecessary pain. ... But whatever they experience as part of an execution pales in comparison to the pain and suffering that they've inflicted on their victims.'
Hunt, 65, was convicted of the "savage" rape and murder of Karen Lane, whom he had been dating for a month on Aug. 2, 1988.
Hunt acknowledged killing Lane, saying it was a crime of passion driven by jealousy, but denied raping her − a contention refuted by the Alabama Attorney General's Office.
"Make no mistake, this night is not about the life of Greg Hunt," Lane's family said in a statement after witnessing the execution. "This night is about the horrific death of Karen Sanders Lane, whose life was so savagely taken from her. Karen was shown no mercy. She was not given a second chance. Karen was shown no grace."
They added that the execution "also not about closure or victory" but "represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 long years."
Florida executed Wainwright by lethal injection, marking the state's sixth execution this year, more than any other state.
Wainwright, who was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. ET, was convicted of the rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart, a married mother of two young children who was attacked in broad daylight in a grocery store parking lot in Lake City, Florida, on April 27, 1994.
"To the family of Carmen Gayheart, I hope my death brings you peace and healing," Wainwright said in his last statement, according to his spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff. Hood.
Wainwright slammed his attorney as "Florida's worst" and the court system in Florida as "broken."
"Please continue the fight. Because I can promise you they are not going to let up," he said to those fighting the death penalty. "They will continue to murder if we continue to let it happen."
Wainwright spent most of his last words addressing his fiancée, Samantha Wainwright (who is using his last name).
"You are the love of my life. I'm so blessed we found each other. The years we have spent together have been beyond wonderful, they've been downright magical," he said. "Love is stronger than death and I know our love will last for eternity."
Gayheart's sister, Maria David, told USA TODAY that at the time of Gayheart's murder, she had just moved her family into the dream home they built themselves in the tiny northern Florida town of Fort White.
"She loved animals, she loved people, she loved her children, she loved her husband," David said. "She was building something beautiful."
David planned on being front and center at Wainwright's execution for "accountability" and because her heartbroken parents couldn't. Her father died in 2013, and her mother died in 2023.
"I look a lot like my sister," she said ahead of the execution. "I'm hoping that he sees a glimpse of Carmen one more time before he goes to where he's going."
In his appeal filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Wainwright's attorneys argued, among other points, that the Florida Supreme Court failed to consider new evidence that the 54-year-old suffered from "transgenerational exposure to Agent Orange through his father's combat service in the Vietnam War."
About Wainwright's state of mind approaching his death, the Rev. Jeff Hood said that he was "very afraid of being executed.
Who was Carmen Gayheart? Mom murdered after grocery store run was building a beautiful life
Tuesday's double execution is far from unprecedented. It happened three times already this year and twice in 2024.
May 20, 2025: Indiana executed Benjamin Ritchie for the 2000 fatal shooting of Officer Bill Tomey, who had just turned 32 the previous day and was a married father of two girls. Later that day, Texas executed Matthew Johnson for the murder of 76-year-old Nancy Judith Harris, a beloved grandmother he set on fire.
March 20, 2025: Oklahoma executed Wendell Grissom for the murder of 23-year-old Amber Matthews in front of her best friend's two young daughters in 2005. About nine hours later, Florida executed Edward Thomas James for the 1993 murders of 58-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Dick and her 8-year-old granddaughter, Toni Neuner, who was raped.
Feb. 13, 2025: Florida executed James Dennis Ford for the savage murders of two young parents, Gregory and Kimberly Malnory, in front of their toddler daughter in 1997. An hour after Ford's death, Texas executed Death Row inmate Richard Lee Tabler for fatally shooting four people in what he described as a fit of rage in 2004.
Sept. 26, 2004: Oklahoma executed Emmanuel Littlejohn for the 1992 shooting death of beloved convenience store owner Kenneth Meers, despite a recommendation from a clemency board that his life should be spared. Later that day, Alabama executed Alan Eugene Miller for the 1999 shooting deaths of his three coworkers, whom he believed were spreading rumors about his sexuality.
Sept. 24, 2004: Missouri executed Marcellus Williams for the 1998 killing of a former newspaper reporter named Lisha Gayle despite his strong claims of innocence and over the objections of both a key prosecutor in the case, the victim's family, and three Supreme Court justices who said they would have granted him a stay. Less than an hour later, Texas executed Travis James Mullis for killing his 3-month-old son, Alijah, in 2008.
Experts say the scheduling of two executions on the same day appears to be purely coincidental, largely because most executions are held between Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY, Alex Gladden, the Montgomery Advertiser
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Double execution: Anthony Wainwright, Gregory Hunt put to death
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