Florida on verge of setting record for executions in a single year after Gov. DeSantis signs another death warrant

Curtis Windom would be the 11th inmate executed this year, a record-breaking pace for the state

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Continuing to quickly order executions, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of killing three people in 1992 in Orange County.

Curtis Windom, 59, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28 at Florida State Prison, according to the death warrant posted on the Florida Supreme Court website. Windom could be the 11th inmate executed this year in the state — a record-breaking pace.

Florida leads the nation in executions, and the state is scheduled Thursday to execute Edward Zakrzewski for the 1994 murders of his wife and two children in Okaloosa County.

DeSantis has also signed a death warrant to execute Kayle Barrington Bates on Aug. 19 for the 1982 murder of a woman in Bay County after he abducted her from an insurance office.

On President Donald Trump’s first day back in office, he signed an executive order that directed the attorney general to help states get more lethal injection drugs.

It is an effort to help preserve capital punishment in states that have been struggling to maintain enough supplies of the drugs.

Zakrzewski’s attorneys have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to halt his execution. But if he is put to death by lethal injection, the state would break a modern-era record of eight executions in a year. That record was set in 1984 and 2014 and represents the period after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, after a U.S. Supreme Court decision halted executions four years earlier.

As with the earlier executions, the Windom death warrant and supporting documents were posted Tuesday on the Florida Supreme Court website without additional explanation from DeSantis.

But one of the documents, a letter from Attorney General James Uthmeier to DeSantis, outlined the Windom shootings on Feb. 7, 1992.

The document said Windom claimed that victim Johnnie Lee owed him $2,000. After finding out that Lee had won $114 at a greyhound track, Windom bought a .38-caliber revolver and ammunition.

“Minutes later, Windom drove his car next to where Lee was standing and shot Lee twice in the back,” the document said. “He then got out of the car and shot Lee two more times at close range as Lee lay on the ground.”

It said Windom then ran toward the apartment of what the document described as his “on-again-off-again girlfriend,” Valerie Davis, and fatally shot her. After Davis’ mother, Mary Lubin, learned that her daughter had been shot, she left work and was driving down the street.

“When she stopped at a stop sign, Windom approached her car, said something to her, and then shot her twice, killing her,” the Uthmeier document said. Another man, Kenneth Williams, was wounded in the shooting spree but survived.

Among the eight executions so far this year was a man put to death in a Jacksonville case: 54-year-old Michael Bernard Bell. He was convicted of fatally shooting two people as part of an attempted revenge killing outside the Moncrief Liquors and Lounge in Jacksonville in 1993.

Bell was executed on July 15.

The state this year has also executed Thomas Gudinas on June 24; Anthony Wainwright on June 10; Glen Rogers on May 15; Jeffrey Hutchinson on May 1; Michael Tanzi on April 8; Edward James on March 20; and James Ford on Feb. 13.

Source: news4jax.com, Jim Saunders, July 30, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

William Thompson Faces Execution in Florida Amid Dementia, Terminal Illness Concerns

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an execution warrant for 74-year-old prisoner William “Bill” Thompson less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital to the hospice wing of the prison. After his attorneys raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, Gov. DeSantis agreed to temporarily stay the execution so Mr. Thompson’s competency can be evaluated on October 1. If he is found competent, his execution remains scheduled for October 13.

Texas executes Ker’Sean Ramey

Texas executes man for a triple killing, days after other man convicted in case was put to death A man was executed Wednesday evening in Texas for a triple killing committed during an attempted robbery at a rural home, 1 week after the other man convicted in the case was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the 6th person executed this year in Texas, with 3 more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next 2 months.

Florida | DeSantis sets execution of man who killed Indian River deputy, temporarily pauses another execution

William Reaves is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Oct. 20th. It's the 18th death warrant Gov. DeSantis has signed this year. Reaves shot Deputy Sheriff Richard Raczkowski in September 23, 1986. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his 18th death warrant of the year Friday. William Reaves, convicted of the 1986 killing of an Indian River County Sheriff's deputy, is set to be executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke on Oct. 20.

Texas House chairman wants child rapists eligible for death penalty

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Under current Supreme Court precedent, states cannot execute someone for raping a child if the victim survives. That’s not stopping State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-McKinney. “We’re going to have a debate in this building behind me about the death penalty being on the table for any Texan who rapes a child,” Leach, the chair of the Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, said. Leach made the comments while hosting a news conference supporting his client, abuse survivor Cindy Clemishire.

Israel | Ben Gvir discusses death penalty for Neveh Tzuf terrorist hours before Yom Kippur

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir raised the possibility of applying the death penalty to the Neveh Tzuf terrorist during a security meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two hours before the start of Yom Kippur on Sunday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir raised the possibility of applying the death penalty to the terrorist responsible for the attack in Neveh Tzuf during a security meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu had reportedly convened the meeting in response to the security situation in the West Bank following the Sunday terror attack.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Taylor Parker becomes 7th woman on death row in Texas

Taylor Parker is set to become the 7th woman on death row in Texas, following her sentencing Wednesday in Bowie County for the capital murder of Reagan Hancock and the kidnapping her unborn baby, Braxlynn Sage. The baby did not survive. The last woman to be handed a death sentence in the state was Kimberly Cargill in June 2012 for the slaying of her developmentally disabled babysitter in Smith County, who was set to testify against her in a custody battle. None of the women currently on death row in Texas are scheduled for execution. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, 6 women have been executed in Texas since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, more than any other state, according to Death Penalty Information Center. The last woman to be executed in the U.S. was Lisa Montgomery in January 2021. It was the first execution of a female inmate carried out by the federal government since 1953, and her case is chillingly reminiscent of Parker’s. She wa...

Tennessee | Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date; Experts’ Amicus Brief Points to ‘Substantial Risk’ of Re-traumatization

Lawyers for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a 226-page clemency petition with Governor Bill Lee, asking him to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole ahead of her September 30 execution date. Ms. Pike’s clemency petition outlines the case her team has built over decades of appeals: her actions at 18 years old cannot be separated from a childhood marked by repeated rape, sexual abuse, and neglect that went unaddressed by the adults and state systems meant to protect her. Once incarcerated, Ms. Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Alabama executes Jeffery Lee

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBMA) — Alabama has executed Jeffery Lee, nearly three decades after he was convicted in the 1998 killings of two people during a pawnshop robbery in rural Dallas County. Lee, 49, was put to death by lethal injection Thursday evening at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. His execution came three months after a federal judge blocked Alabama's plans to execute him using nitrogen gas. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Central Time, according to the office of Governor Kay Ivey.

Texas set to execute second man convicted in 2005 South Texas triple murder

Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey is scheduled to die Wednesday, one week after the state executed his co-defendant for the same killings. Texas is scheduled to execute a man on Wednesday for the 2005 shooting deaths of three people during a botched robbery in a small South Texas town, just one week after the state put his co-defendant to death for the same crime. Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey, 41, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog