Florida has emerged as the state with the highest number of executions this year, with a total of 19 individuals put to death. This figure not only leads the nation but also highlights a significant increase compared to previous years.
As the calendar year wraps up, Florida’s execution record has become a topic of both support and criticism. Among those executed were individuals who committed crimes in the Tampa Bay area many years ago. Florida’s contribution accounts for 40% of the 47 executions carried out across the United States, as reported by the Death Penalty Information Center.
Governor Ron DeSantis has emphasized that the death penalty serves as a form of closure for the families of victims. Upon assuming office, he noted that pandemic-related delays and extended reviews had left many families in prolonged limbo, yearning for resolution.
“There’s a saying, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied,’” DeSantis remarked during a news conference in November. “I felt a responsibility to ensure that this process was efficient and timely for the sake of the families involved.”
Florida’s previous record for executions in a single year was eight, a number reached in both 2014 and 1984, according to state records. This year’s unprecedented total marks a significant departure from past figures.
The execution record in Florida before this year was eight executions, which happened in both 2014 and 1984, according to state records.
Texas is the only state to put a higher number of people to death in one year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2009, 24 executions took place in the Lone Star State.
The executions brought renewed attention to cases, including David Pittman’s crimes in Mulberry in 1990. He was put to death this past September for killing his estranged wife’s sister, Bonnie Knowles, and their grandparent,s Clarence Knowles and Barbara Knowles.
Neighbors told 10 Tampa Bay News 35 years ago that they were shocked to hear about the incident and reported his behavior as being strange. After the stabbings, Pittman set the Knowles family’s house on fire and stole Bonnie Knowles’ car, which he also set ablaze.
Loved ones of the Knowles family said the execution brought some peace.
“Today has brought a measure of closure to this tragic event 35 years ago. Justice has been served,” James Geddes, a nephew of Clarence and Barbara Knowles, said.
Critics said non-lethal alternatives should have been used instead.
Mental illnesses, low IQ, brain or other physical damages, along with previous abuses inmates experienced, are factors to consider. The same researchers said 39 people executed this year had one or more of those factors.
The organization Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has been holding vigils and petitioning to put an end to capital punishment.
“Florida’s current leadership has turned the death penalty into a prop, brandished for headlines and weaponized for political gain,” the organization stated this month.
In 2023, state lawmakers passed legislation that would allow for the death penalty without a unanimous vote from the jury. It came after the Parkland shooter, who killed 17 people in 2018, avoided the death penalty, despite the majority of jurors recommending it.
This year, DeSantis also signed a sweeping package of immigration laws, including mandating the death penalty for immigrants in the U.S. without legal authorization who commit capital offenses such as first-degree murder or child rape.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the executions are also about enforcing the law.
“We have a lot of people on death row. The state spends a lot of taxpayer dollars to hold them there,” the Florida attorney general said during a September news conference. “We will make sure that somebody has exhausted all of their legal appeals before we move forward.”
While no executions in Florida have been scheduled for next year yet, 251 people remain on death row in the state, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
