Michael Shannon Taylor: November 5, 2026
On November 5, 2026 the State of Alabama is scheduled to execute Michael Shannon Taylor for the 1991 murders of Ivan Ernest Moore and Lucille Burke Moore in Gadsden, Alabama.
Ernie and Lucille were approaching their fiftieth wedding anniversary when a familiar young man came to their home and asked to use the telephone. Two days later, an unanswered call from their daughter-in-law led a neighbor to check on them. Ernie was dead, and Lucille was still alive, badly injured. She died four days after she was found.
Michael Shannon Taylor was nineteen and absent without leave from the Navy. After his arrest in the Moores’ Cadillac, he confessed to the robbery and beatings. His attorneys acknowledged his responsibility, but disputed whether he had intended to kill. That question, and the evidence the jury heard about it, became central to his trial and appeals.
This is the first of three cases covered by Scheduled: An American Execution for November 5, 2026—a triple execution day.
SOURCES
Taylor v. State, Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, July 8, 1994 — trial evidence, confession, jury selection, sentencing, and direct appeal.
Ex parte Taylor, Alabama Supreme Court, May 5, 1995 — convictions, death sentence, and jurors’ views on punishment.
Taylor v. State, Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, August 27, 2004 — postconviction claims, defense strategy, psychological evidence, and trial counsel’s representation.
Ex parte Taylor, Alabama Supreme Court, September 30, 2005 — ineffective-assistance claims and the difference between plain-error review and evaluating counsel’s failures.
Taylor v. State, Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, August 25, 2006 — further proceedings on ineffective-assistance claims; reporter’s note documenting the 2008 dispositions.
Taylor v. Culliver, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, September 26, 2012 — federal habeas review, trial testimony, mitigation, and constitutional claims.
Taylor v. Culliver, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, August 6, 2015 — jury selection, felony-murder instructions, defense strategy, and psychological mitigation.
U.S. Supreme Court, docket 16-5697 — denial of review in November 2016 and rehearing in January 2017.
Taylor v. Dunn, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, November 21, 2017 — lethal-injection challenge, consciousness checks, and attorneys’ telephone access during executions.
In re Alabama Lethal Injection Protocol Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, June 15, 2018 — dismissal of Taylor’s remaining challenge as untimely.
Arthur v. Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2017 — accounts of Ronald Bert Smith’s execution and the State’s response.
Kim Craft, The Gadsden Times, April 18, 2002, “Testimony begins in appeal hearing for man convicted in 1991 murder of elderly couple” — postconviction hearing and family accounts.
Lisa Rogers, The Gadsden Times, November 3, 2012 — the Moores’ family, discovery of the crime, confession excerpts, photographs, and Lisa Moore’s account.
Find a Grave memorials for Ivan Ernest Moore and Lucille Burke Moore — biographical and birth-date information; Ivan’s birth year differs between records.
Alabama Supreme Court execution order, June 4, 2026; Governor Kay Ivey’s execution-window letter and announcement, August 31, 2026 — warrant, execution window, method, and clemency authority.
Catholic Mobilizing Network and Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty — clemency statements and petition campaign.
Death Penalty Information Center, 2026 execution calendar — scheduled execution dates and warrant status.