USA: Two executions on the same day—in Oklahoma and the 600th execution in Texas

Two death sentences were carried out in the United States on Thursday: Raymond Johnson was executed in Oklahoma, while Edward Busby was executed in Texas—the 600th execution in that state, which has by far the highest number of executions in the country.

Raymond Johnson

On Thursday morning, 52-year-old Raymond Eugene Johnson was executed by lethal injection in the state of Oklahoma. He had been sentenced to death for killing his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend in June 2007 following an argument.

Johnson had first struck her with a hammer, hitting her six times in the head, before dousing her with gasoline and setting the house on fire. The four-time mother’s seven-month-old daughter was in the apartment and perished in the flames. The ex-girlfriend was rescued alive from the burning house but died shortly afterward in the hospital from her severe injuries.

Johnson’s lawyers did not file a last-minute appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Previous appeals, in which he unsuccessfully argued that he had been unlawfully arrested, coerced into a confession, and made an inadmissible plea of guilty through his trial attorney, failed. In April, the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously denied a pardon.

At his clemency hearing, Johnson asked the victims’ families for forgiveness and stated that he was a changed man. “I ask for forgiveness. No excuses, no justifications, a sincere plea for forgiveness. So that you may see that it is sincere, look at my actions. Look at my life. Look at how I have changed. I live a life full of remorse. I live it,” he said in an interview with Death Penalty Action. The victims’ families, however, urged that the execution be carried out.

A few days before his death sentence was carried out, Raymond Johnson asked the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to publish an essay he had written: “Bridging the Gap for True Change.”

Edward Busby

With a delay of about two hours, 53-year-old Edward Busby Jr. was executed by the state of Texas in Huntsville on Thursday evening via lethal injection, an overdose of pentobarbital. He had been sentenced to death for kidnapping a 77-year-old former college professor from her car in a grocery store parking lot in January 2004, along with his then-girlfriend.

Busby and his accomplice forced her into the trunk of the car—allegedly intending to release their victim later once they were far enough from the crime scene. However, the retired Texas Christian University professor suffocated under duct tape that was tightly wrapped around her head, covering her mouth and nose.

In a prison interview reported by the “Dallas Morning News” in 2004, Busby broke down in tears before reporters as he described the crime and insisted he had never intended for anyone to die. “I made sure she could breathe,” he said. “I don’t know what happened.”

In his final words, Busby also expressed remorse: “I’m so sorry for what happened. Miss Crane was a lovely woman. I never meant to do her any harm.” He wished he could “undo everything” and added that he “had no right to get into that car.”

The two-hour delay in carrying out the death sentence resulted from the fact that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Texas, had granted a stay of execution just under a week earlier. With an IQ between 65 and 75, the question arose as to whether the death sentence could even be constitutionally carried out given Busby’s intellectual disabilities.

The prosecution petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn the stay of execution, and one hour before the scheduled execution time, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution by a 6-3 vote. It was the 600th execution in Texas since the first person was executed by lethal injection there in 1982.

Sources:
https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/crime/2026/05/14/oklahoma-executes-raymond-johnson-for-killing-ex-girlfriend-baby/90073898007/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/oklahoma-execution-lethal-injection-raymond-johnson-b2976724.html
https://apnews.com/article/texas-execution-edward-busby-intellectually-disabled-0343470f03de9cf21583b517bfcd07eb
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/article/texas-death-row-inmate-edward-busby-22247211.php
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/05/14/edward-busby-texas-executions-600-supreme-court/90084524007/