Camilla Jessen
The United States is seeing its highest number of executions in nearly a decade.
The United States has reached its highest number of executions in a decade, with Florida at the center of this trend.
On Tuesday, the execution of Michael Bell marked the 26th carried out in 2025 so far, a figure not seen since 2015.
Florida Executes Michael Bell
Michael Bell, 54, was executed by lethal injection at Raiford State Penitentiary for the 1993 murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith in Jacksonville.
According to Digi24, Bell reportedly carried out the killings as an act of revenge for his brother’s death but mistakenly targeted the wrong man, killing the brother of his intended victim and a young woman accompanying him.
From Reform School to Death Row
Bell was one of 30 inmates on Florida’s death row who spent part of their youth at the infamous Florida School for Boys, also known as the Dozier School.
The institution was shut down in 2011 after over a century of documented abuse and mistreatment.
Its dark history inspired Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys.
In 2016, investigators uncovered 55 unmarked graves on the school’s grounds.
Executions Reach a Decade-High
With eight executions so far in 2025, Florida accounts for nearly a third of all executions nationwide this year.
The total number of executions in the U.S. now stands at 26, the highest since 2015.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), another nine are scheduled before the year’s end.
A Handful of States Drive the Spike
The DPIC attributes the spike to policies enacted by a small group of state leaders.
Florida, Texas, and South Carolina are responsible for over half of the executions so far.
In a recent report, the organization emphasized how geographically concentrated capital punishment has become, despite ongoing national debates about its morality and effectiveness.
Execution Methods Under Scrutiny
Of the 26 executions carried out in 2025, 21 used lethal injection.
Alabama introduced nitrogen gas inhalation—a controversial method condemned by UN experts as a form of torture.
South Carolina carried out two executions by firing squad, the first such cases in the U.S. since 2010.
A Divided Nation on the Death Penalty
Currently, the death penalty is abolished in 23 U.S. states.
Three others—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have paused executions under gubernatorial moratoriums.
The remaining states continue to carry out capital punishment.
