ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two of the nation’s most active death penalty states are planning executions on Wednesday, as attorneys for the inmates continue efforts to

save them.

Earl Ringo Jr. is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday in Missouri for killing two people during a robbery at a Columbia, Missouri, restaurant in 1998. Hours later, Texas plans to execute Willie Trottie for fatally shooting his common-law wife and her brother in Houston in 1993.

The executions would be the eighth this year in each state. Florida also has performed seven executions in 2014. All other states have combined for six executions.

A court appeal on Ringo’s behalf raised concerns about Missouri’s use of a pre-execution sedative and what impact it has on the execution. Trottie’s lawyers said he had inadequate legal representation at trial.