Two men are scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in the United States on Thursday, in unrelated murder cases in Texas and Oklahoma that date back more than two decades.

Texas plans to execute John Allen Rubio, 46, at the state prison in Huntsville, while Oklahoma plans to execute James Dwight Pavatt, 72, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The shared date is a coincidence of scheduling.

The Texas case

Rubio was convicted of the 2003 killings of three young children in Brownsville, Texas: three-year-old Julissa Quesada, one-year-old John Stephan Rubio and two-month-old Mary Jane Rubio. Prosecutors said Rubio and his partner, Angela Camacho, believed the children were possessed by evil spirits. His first conviction was overturned, but he was convicted again at a retrial and sentenced to death. An appeal to stop the execution was denied in October 2026. Camacho, the children's mother, is serving three consecutive life terms. Texas uses pentobarbital for lethal injections.

The Oklahoma case

Pavatt was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City advertising executive and father of two. He was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy over the killing of Andrew, the estranged husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair. Pavatt has denied shooting Andrew. Oklahoma uses a three-drug combination for lethal injections.

A rising execution total

If both go ahead, Rubio and Pavatt would be the 36th and 37th people executed in the United States this year. The country is on course for more than 40 executions for a second straight year, with Florida driving much of the increase. Both men remained scheduled for execution on Thursday, with outcomes to be confirmed by the state corrections departments, USA Today reported.