Texas and Oklahoma are both scheduled to carry out executions by lethal injection on Thursday, 12 November, in unrelated cases separated by more than two decades of legal proceedings.

Texas plans to execute John Allen Rubio for the 2003 killings of three young children in Brownsville, while Oklahoma plans to execute James Dwight Pavatt, 72, for the 2001 murder of advertising executive Rob Andrew in Oklahoma City. If both go ahead, they will become the 36th and 37th people executed in the United States this year, as the country sees an increase in executions that began in 2025.

Texas: John Allen Rubio

Rubio was convicted of capital murder for the deaths of three children on 11 March 2003: three-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John Esteban Rubio and two-month-old Mary Jane Rubio. The children were the children of his common-law wife, Angela Camacho, who is serving three consecutive life terms for her role in the killings.

Rubio was first sentenced to death in 2003, but that sentence was overturned by a Texas court in 2007 and he was sentenced to death again after a retrial. His final appeal was denied in October 2026, clearing the way for the execution date of 12 November at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit.

Texas uses the drug pentobarbital for its lethal injections. Texas executions are customarily carried out in the evening.

Oklahoma: James Dwight Pavatt

Pavatt is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for the murder of Rob Andrew, who was shot dead at his Oklahoma City home on 20 November 2001.

Pavatt and Brenda Andrew, the victim's estranged wife and Pavatt's lover at the time, were convicted in 2004 of planning the killing to claim an 800,000-dollar life insurance policy. Brenda Andrew remains on death row and is the only woman on Oklahoma's death row. Pavatt has consistently maintained his innocence.

Last month, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to deny Pavatt's request for clemency. His lawyers filed an emergency application with the United States Supreme Court asking for a stay of execution, which was still pending on Wednesday. Veterans groups and death penalty opponents rallied on Wednesday, urging Governor Kevin Stitt to intervene, citing Pavatt's military service as a former Air Force master sergeant.

Oklahoma uses a three-drug combination for lethal injection, which does not include pentobarbital.

Two states, one day

Double executions, in which two separate states execute inmates on the same day, are a coincidence of scheduling rather than a coordinated decision. Each case has moved through its own courts, appeals and clemency processes over many years.

The two executions come as the use of the death penalty in the United States has risen after a period of decline, with 35 people already executed in 2026 before Thursday. Sources: USA Today and News 9 Oklahoma.