Charles Victor Thompson Huntsville, Texas — Charles Victor Thompson, 55, became the first person executed in the United States this year on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, following the rejection of his final appeals by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thompson was condemned for the April 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, at her apartment in the Houston suburb of Tomball. He received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. Prosecutors said Thompson and Hayslip had been romantically involved for a year bu

Charles Victor Thompson

Huntsville, Texas — Charles Victor Thompson, 55, became the first person executed in the United States this year on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, following the rejection of his final appeals by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thompson was condemned for the April 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, at her apartment in the Houston suburb of Tomball. He received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

Prosecutors said Thompson and Hayslip had been romantically involved for a year but split after Thompson became increasingly possessive, jealous and abusive. Court records show Thompson came to Hayslip's apartment and began arguing with Cain around 3 a.m.

About an hour before the scheduled 6 p.m. execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Thompson's final appeal without explanation. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had denied his request on Monday to commute his death sentence.

Thompson's attorneys argued he was denied his constitutional right to confront witnesses, claiming Hayslip actually died from flawed medical care after the shooting rather than from the gunshot wound itself. Prosecutors responded that a jury had already rejected the claim and decided Thompson was responsible for Hayslip's death because it would not have occurred but for his conduct.

The execution follows a year in which executions surged nationally. In 2025, 47 death row inmates were killed in 11 states, up from 25 the year before and the most since 52 were killed in 2009. Texas has scheduled four more executions through May 15, 2026.

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