Two executions bring US closer to 40 as death penalty draws renewed scrutiny

Two executions bring US closer to 40 this year as death penalty draws renewed scrutiny Advertisement Updated: 8:19 PM EST Nov 12, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ Chantelle Navarro Anchor The Associated Press National Desk Staff Two executions bring US closer to 40 this year as death penalty draws renewed scrutiny Updated: 8:19 PM EST Nov 12, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ Chantelle Navarro Anchor The Associated Press National Desk Staff Hours after Oklahoma put another man to death, a Texas man who was convicted of fatally stabbing three young children in 2003 in a squalid, windowless apartment has been executed. Oklahoma has carried out the execution of James Pavatt, who was convicted of his role in a high-profile 2001 murder in Oklahoma City. Advertisement Pavatt was sentenced to death for the murder of Rob Andrew in 2001. Pavatt still claimed he did not kill Andrew, but the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended against granting him clemency last month. Related video above: Oklahoma death row inmate James Pavatt executed He was executed shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. In Texas, John Allen Rubio, 46, was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. after a lethal injection at the state prison in Huntsville. The killings of the baby girl and two toddlers so rocked the city of Brownsville, on the U.S. border with Mexico, that the apartment building was later demolished and the land turned into a park and community garden. Thursday’s executions were the 36th and 37th this year, with the U.S. on track to surpass 40 executions for a second consecutive year — a pace driven by Florida. The death penalty has drawn renewed attention since the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee in September. Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would commute hundreds of death sentences before leaving office, which experts say would be the largest mass clemency in American history. California governor says he'll commute all 548 death sentences in state to life without parole Background on Pavatt's case Rob Andrew and his estranged wife, Brenda Andrew, were separated and going through a divorce when Brenda Andrew began a romantic relationship with Pavatt, who was a life insurance agent at the time and helped Rob Andrew get an $800,000 policy. Prosecutors argued that Brenda Andrew and Pavatt conspired to kill Rob Andrew so his estranged wife could benefit from the policy. >> Video Below: Oklahoma man maintains innocence as execution looms in high-profile 2001 murder case He was fatally shot in the garage of the Oklahoma City home he'd previously shared with his wife as he picked up their two young children before Thanksgiving. Brenda Andrew told police after her husband was killed that masked intruders shot her in the arm and fatally shot him. Before Rob Andrew’s funeral, Brenda Andrew fled to Mexico with Pavatt. The pair was captured by Mexican authorities three months later. At a clemency hearing last month, Pavatt said he was “not guilty of shooting anyone,” While Pavatt’s family shared home videos portraying him as a loving family man and veteran, he was convicted for his role in Rob Andrew’s murder. Prosecutors have said that Pavatt and Brenda Andrew plotted to kill her husband, and that no matter who fired the shots, both were equally guilty. Both of them eventually were convicted of the murder. Brenda Andrew currently sits on death row. During the investigation, it was revealed that Rob Andrew’s brake lines had been cut a month before his murder. Rob had reported the incident to authorities. "My brake lines have been cut for my car. That sounds like attempted murder, don't you think?" Rob Andrew told dispatchers. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released a statement in mid-September urging the Pardon and Parole Board to not recommend clemency. "Rob Andrew was gunned down in his own garage, feet from the children he loved, by a man he had trusted as a friend and an insurance agent," Drummond said in a news release. "Twenty-five years later, Pavatt still won't tell the truth about what he did. There must be justice for Rob." 3 young children beheaded in Texas Rubio and his girlfriend, Angela Camacho, were accused of killing 3-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John E. Rubio and 2-month-old Mary Jane Rubio in the windowless apartment they shared in Brownsville. Camacho pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. An appeals court overturned Rubio’s first capital murder conviction, ruling that Camacho's statements were improperly admitted as evidence in his trial. At his second trial, Rubio again pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but was convicted and sentenced to death. According to court records, Rubio wasn’t the biological father of the two older children but treated them as if they were his own. At various points, Rubio claimed the children were possessed and that he was the “chosen one” intended to save the world. Defense experts diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, a finding prosecution experts rejected. The defense experts also testified that Rubio's childhood — marked by violence at home, “toxic” parents, drug use and prostitution — damaged him developmentally. ___ The Associated Press contributed to this report. Make WLWT a preferred source on Google Add Preferred Source Share Infinite Scroll Enabled Top Picks VIDEO: Frankie Muniz says he's recovering after crash at Daytona International Speedway Newly released Ring camera shows Brooklyn building collapsing WATCH: Master carver engraves crystals from last year's New Year's Eve ball Anthony Clark, a comedian and actor who starred on 'Yes, Dear,' dies