Texas Executes Inmate as Georgia Stay Halts Second Execution

Texas executed LeJames Norman on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, for a 2005 triple murder, while a Georgia judge halted the scheduled execution of Stacey Humphrey late the previous night. The events mark an unusual concentration of death penalty cases in the United States, with Alabama planning another execution on Thursday. Norman, 40, was put to death by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the fatal shootings of Samuel Roberts, Tiffani Peacock, and Celso Lopez during an attempted robbery in Edna, Texas. His co-defendant, KerSean Ramey, is scheduled for execution next week. In Georgia, 53-year-old Stacey Humphrey was set to die for the 2003 murders of real estate agents Cyndi Williams and Lori Brown. A Cobb County judge issued a stay late Tuesday after Humphrey's lawyers filed a petition for resentencing under a new state law allowing abuse victims to have sentences reconsidered. The state is appealing the ruling, which could reinstate the execution. Alabama plans to execute Jeffery Lee on Thursday for a 1998 double murder during a pawn shop holdup, marking the third execution in the U.S. within a 48-hour window.