Attempted murder

Authorities in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, have charged 35-year-old Taylor Gosnell with two counts of attempted murder after her two young children, ages 3 and 6, were found with roughly 50 combined stab wounds, some down to the bone. Deputies were called to the family's home on Bud Arthur Bridge Road on Sept. 26 after the children's grandmother said the six-year-old called saying his mother was not home and the siblings were hungry. The grandmother and a family friend went to the house, found the children with severe injuries, and called 911.

Investigators said the children were attacked overnight with a kitchen knife and a blunt object, and the home was found in disarray. Gosnell returned while deputies were on scene, was taken for a mental health evaluation after attempting to flee, and later requested an attorney when questioned. She faces additional weapons charges and is being held without bond. Both children remain hospitalized and are in protective custody.

Two Kentucky adults face attempted murder and other charges after two young girls, ages 6 and 8, allegedly suffered repeated physical abuse, including strangulation, in Gallatin County. The case drew scrutiny after school officials reported suspected abuse on Aug. 28, when the girls arrived with bruising and marks later described in court records as concealed with makeup. A state child-welfare worker reportedly directed the school to send the children home despite objections from the school and law enforcement; investigators allege the girls were abused again in the roughly 30 minutes before deputies arrived.

Kyle Reynolds, 23, faces four attempted murder counts along with strangulation, assault and criminal abuse charges. His girlfriend, Phyllis Culp, 29, faces related charges including complicity. Both girls were hospitalized and underwent forensic interviews describing ongoing physical abuse. A judge found probable cause to send the case to a grand jury and set bonds at $1 million for each defendant. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has not responded to questions about its handling of the initial report.

A weeklong immigration enforcement operation in Southwest Florida led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alongside more than five federal, state and local agencies, resulted in 500 arrests between Aug. 24 and Aug. 27. Those detained included a Haitian national charged with murder, a Honduran man accused of molesting two children, a suspected Mexican cartel member, and a Guatemalan man accused of trying to use a Taser on an arresting officer.

Among the most serious cases, Lee County deputies arrested Whycliff Longin, 28, an asylum-seeking Haitian national, on charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, sexual battery and burglary after a woman was found dead and another survived an attack in Lehigh Acres. Other detainees faced charges or histories involving battery, DUI, domestic violence, drug possession, hit-and-run incidents and repeated illegal reentry after deportation.

Participating agencies included the Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County Sheriff's Office, Florida National Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the operation, citing Florida's extensive law enforcement partnerships with ICE across all 67 counties.

Alabama executed Jeffery Lee, 49, by lethal injection Thursday evening at Holman Correctional Facility, pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., for the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a robbery at Jimmy's Pawn Shop in Orrville. Ellis, known for performing as masked Elvis impersonator "Orion," and Thompson were shot along with a third employee who survived by feigning death and later testified against Lee. In his final words, Lee expressed love for his family and fellow death row inmates.

The execution followed a judge's ruling that had blocked the state's original plan to execute Lee via nitrogen gas in June over constitutional concerns. The attorney general's office then sought a new date using lethal injection, despite a 2018 agreement tied to a prior lawsuit stating nitrogen hypoxia would be used if Lee were executed. His attorneys argued the switch violated that agreement; the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay request hours before the execution.

Lee's case drew added scrutiny because the jury that convicted him voted 7-5 for life without parole, but the trial judge overrode that recommendation—a practice Alabama has since abolished, though not retroactively. Gov. Kay Ivey declined to grant clemency. Lee was the 27th person executed in the U.S. this year and the second in Alabama.

Alabama executed Jeffery Lee, 49, by lethal injection Thursday evening at Holman Correctional Facility for the 1998 murders of two people during a robbery at a pawn shop in rural Dallas County. Lee had shot and killed store owner Jimmy Ellis, a onetime Elvis impersonator known as "Orion," and employee Elaine Thompson; a third employee survived by playing dead.

The state had originally planned to execute Lee in June using nitrogen gas, but a judge blocked that method, prompting officials to seek a new date using lethal injection instead. Lee's attorneys argued Alabama was bound by a 2018 agreement to use nitrogen hypoxia and should not be allowed to switch methods, taking the dispute to the U.S. Supreme Court. They also cited the jury's original 7-5 recommendation for life without parole, which a trial judge overrode—a practice Alabama has since abolished but did not apply retroactively. Lee is one of roughly two dozen Alabama death row inmates sentenced despite jury recommendations for life. He is the 26th person executed in the U.S. this year.

Alabama executed Jeffery Lee, 49, by lethal injection Thursday at Holman Correctional Facility for the December 1998 murders of two people during a robbery at a pawn shop in Orrville. The execution came three months after a judge blocked the state's original plan to put Lee to death using nitrogen gas. Lee had chosen nitrogen as his preferred method in 2018, and his attorneys argued the state was bound to honor that agreement, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the switch to lethal injection. State officials argued nothing prevented the change and pressed to proceed after nearly 28 years.

Lee was convicted in 2000 of killing shop owner Jimmy Ellis, known as an Elvis impersonator, and employee Elaine Thompson. A jury had recommended life imprisonment by a 7-5 vote, but the trial judge overrode that recommendation and imposed a death sentence, a practice Alabama has since abolished but not retroactively. Supporters rallied for clemency before the execution, which marked the 26th in the U.S. this year.

Florida is scheduled to execute Harold Gene Lucas, 74, by lethal injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke, marking the state's 14th execution of the year. Lucas was convicted of fatally shooting 16-year-old Jill Piper in 1976 after she rejected his romantic advances, and of wounding two of her friends. He was sentenced to death five times across multiple resentencings following appeals, and has spent nearly 50 years on death row. Lucas waived further appeals, telling a judge he was "tired" and wanted the process over.

Florida has carried out more executions than any other state in 2025, accounting for more than half of the 23 total executions nationwide, including a rare same-day double execution in July. Two more Florida executions are scheduled this month: Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. on September 10 and Curtis Wilkie Beasley on September 29. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed death warrants for both. Florida uses a three-drug lethal injection protocol involving a sedative, a paralytic, and a heart-stopping drug.

Florida executed William Frances Silvia, 61, by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. He was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife, Patricia Wyatt, and wounding her mother, Betty Woodard, during a September 2006 cookout after Wyatt left him and moved back in with her family. Silvia bought a shotgun and confronted the family after failing to reconcile with Wyatt. Woodard, who survived but lost an eye and part of her hearing and sense of smell, witnessed the execution. Silvia was first sentenced to death in 2008; that sentence was later vacated on appeal before he was resentenced to death in 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court both rejected last-minute stay requests, including one arguing his state-appointed counsel had a conflict of interest.

Silvia is the 13th person executed in Florida this year and among 22 nationwide, as Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration continues an aggressive pace of executions, including a rare double execution in July. Florida accounts for more than half of U.S. executions in 2026, after leading the nation with a record 19 executions in 2025. Two more Florida executions are scheduled for September: Harold Gene Lucas on Sept. 1 and Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. on Sept. 10.