Texas executes Charles Thompson for 1998 double murder, the first U.S. execution this year
Texas on Wednesday put to death Charles Thompson, 55, by lethal injection for the 1998 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend, marking the first execution in the United States this year and renewing attention to the nation’s use of capital punishment.
- Advertisement -
Thompson was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. Central time at a state prison in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
He was sentenced to death for killing Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Darren Cain, who were shot at Hayslip’s apartment in a Houston suburb. Cain died at the scene; Hayslip died of her wounds a week later at a hospital.
In an interview with USA Today, Mr. Hayslip said the execution will be “the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one.” “I’m looking forward to the new one,” he said.
The execution comes after the United States carried out 47 executions last year, the most since 2009, when 52 inmates were put to death. Florida led the nation in 2025 with 19 executions, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, which each carried out five.
Lethal injection remained the predominant method, used in 39 executions last year. Three were carried out by firing squad, and five by nitrogen hypoxia — a method in which nitrogen gas is pumped into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate. United Nations human rights experts have denounced nitrogen gas as cruel and inhumane.
The landscape of the death penalty in the United States remains sharply divided. Twenty-three of the 50 states have abolished capital punishment, and three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.
President Donald Trump has been a vocal proponent of the death penalty and has called for expanding its use “for the vilest crimes.”
Thompson’s execution underscores how states continue to move forward with capital punishment even as the methods and frequency of executions draw increasing scrutiny. In Texas, which has long led the country in executions, officials proceeded by lethal injection while other states have tested or authorized alternatives amid drug shortages and legal challenges.
With the first execution of the year now carried out, the national debate over how — and whether — the death penalty is used shows no sign of abating.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
