Two US states executed death row inmates on the same day: the cases that ended in lethal injection.

Oklahoma and Texas applied lethal injections to two death row inmates on November 12, 2026. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice/Oklahoma Department of Corrections) Oklahoma and Texas executed two death row inmates on November 12, 2026, in independent proceedings that brought an end to judicial processes related to murders committed in 2001 and 2003. The sentences were carried out at two state penitentiaries, after the defenses exhausted their final attempts to stop them. Authorities confirmed that both men died by lethal injection. James Dwight Pavatt was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, located in McAlester. According to the state Department of Corrections, as reported by Oklahoma Voice, a nonprofit digital journalism outlet in Oklahoma, the inmate was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. on November 12, after receiving a lethal injection. The procedure was carried out without complications. Pavatt had been convicted of participating in the murder of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City advertising executive and father of two. The homicide occurred in 2001, when the victim was shot in the garage of his home while in the middle of a divorce process with Brenda Andrew. According to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, Pavatt had begun an extramarital relationship with Brenda Andrew that same year. Prosecutors argued that the two conspired to murder Rob in order to collect an $800,000 life insurance policy taken out in the victim's name. The jury accepted the prosecution's theory and Pavatt received a death sentence. The investigation also established that the brake lines on Andrew's car had been cut weeks before the homicide. According to the Associated Press, the victim had reported the incident to the authorities and stated that he feared someone might try to kill him. After the murder, Pavatt and Brenda Andrew fled to Mexico with her two children. According to the Associated Press, both were arrested approximately three months later as they attempted to return to the United States. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond spoke out after the execution and stated that justice had been served for Rob Andrew. In the statement released by his office on November 12, he also expressed his hope that the victim's family could find peace after 25 years of mourning. Oklahoma's justice system sentenced James Dwight Pavatt for the murder of an advertising executive in order to collect life insurance. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections) Brenda Andrew, sentenced to death for the same homicide Brenda Andrew was prosecuted separately for the murder of her husband and also received a capital sentence. Her relationship with Pavatt and the life insurance policy were central elements of the case presented during the trial. According to Oklahoma Voice, Brenda and Pavatt were sentenced to death for the same homicide, although their judicial proceedings were conducted independently. The woman continues to appeal her conviction and remains on Oklahoma's death row. Before his execution, Pavatt appeared before the state Pardon and Parole Board to request clemency. According to Oklahoma Voice's coverage of the hearing held in October, the inmate maintained his claim of innocence and asserted that he had fallen in love with Brenda but had not participated in the murder. The board declined to recommend a commutation of the sentence. Its decision allowed the execution date set by the corrections authorities to stand. In Texas, John Allen Rubio, 46, was executed at the Huntsville state prison. The Department of Criminal Justice confirmed that he received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. local time on November 12. Rubio had been convicted of the murder of three children that occurred in March 2003 in Brownsville, in Cameron County. The victims were Mary Jane Rubio, two months old; John Esteban Rubio, one year old; and Julissa Angela Quezada, three years old. According to the inmate file published by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Rubio and his partner, Angela Camacho, attacked the three children with bladed weapons and subsequently decapitated the victims. Mary Jane and John Esteban were Rubio's biological children, while Julissa was Camacho's daughter. The case shocked Brownsville because of the children's ages and the circumstances of the homicides. According to court records cited by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit digital journalism outlet in Texas, Rubio told authorities that he believed the children were possessed. Camacho was also prosecuted for her participation in the murders and received three life sentences, according to The Texas Tribune. The woman remains in prison. The execution was the eighth carried out by Texas during 2026, according to the schedule and records of the state Department of Criminal Justice. The state of Texas executed John Allen Rubio for the homicide of three children committed in Brownsville in 2003. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) Rubio's judicial process underwent a significant modification after his first conviction. In 2003, a jury found him guilty of capital murder and he received a death sentence. However, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the verdict in 2007. According to The Texas Tribune, the decision was related to out-of-court statements by Angela Camacho that prosecutors had used during the trial. The court determined that those statements should not have been presented in that manner, due to the constitutional guarantees linked to the right against self-incrimination. After the overturning, Rubio faced trial again. In 2010, another jury found him guilty of capital murder and determined that he should again receive the death penalty. During that second proceeding, the defendant pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, while his defense presented arguments related to his mental state. On November 5, 2026, a court rejected Rubio's final appeal regarding his conviction. According to The Texas Tribune, his lawyers challenged the testimony of a psychiatry specialist presented by the prosecution and argued that he had provided incorrect information about the inmate's mental health history. With that denial, the 2010 sentence became final and the criminal appeal was exhausted. The lawsuit over pentobarbital and the clemency denial In addition to the appeals related to his conviction, Rubio took part in a lawsuit against the Texas corrections authorities over the use of pentobarbital, the drug used in the state's lethal injections. According to The Texas Tribune, the claim was filed along with other death row inmates and challenged the use of medications whose date of use had expired or that, according to the plaintiffs, had been manufactured under conditions that did not offer sufficient guarantees. On November 11, the Texas Supreme Court rejected a petition for a writ of mandamus and a request for a stay related to that dispute. The ruling, identified as In re John Rubio and Reinaldo Dennes, noted that the plaintiffs sought to prevent the Department of Criminal Justice from using the drug in its executions. According to the court document published by the Texas Supreme Court, the lawsuit also challenged the conditions under which the drug was prepared at external facilities. The ruling did not review Rubio's culpability for the murders nor overturn his conviction, but rather addressed a dispute over the execution procedure. Meanwhile, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend clemency for Rubio on November 10, according to the agency's official records. With that decision and the courts' refusal to halt the procedure, the sentence remained in effect. An appeals court overturned the first verdict against Rubio in 2007, paving the way for a new capital trial in 2010. (Infobae illustrative image) The executions of Pavatt and Rubio were carried out just hours apart, but stemmed from independent criminal proceedings. Oklahoma carried out the sentence against the inmate convicted of the murder of Rob Andrew, while Texas executed Rubio for the deaths of three children in Brownsville. In both cases, the defendants exhausted various legal avenues in attempts to stop the sentences. According to statements from state authorities and court records, the clemency requests and appeals filed did not succeed in changing the convictions. The coincidence of November 12 was not the result of a joint decision between Oklahoma and Texas. Each state carried out the procedure in accordance with its own judicial and corrections provisions.