Florida executed its thirteenth demise row prisoner of the 12 months Tuesday night amid the state’s aggressive use of the demise penalty championed by Governor Ron DeSantis.
William Frances Silvia, 61, who was convicted of fatally capturing his estranged spouse and injuring his mother-in-law in 2006, was pronounced useless at 6:11 p.m. after receiving the deadly three-drug injection at Florida State Jail.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Silvia was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the demise chamber went up.
He remained comparatively immobile together with his eyes and mouth open all through many of the execution whereas a priest sat at his toes and prayed.
Earlier than being put to demise, Silvia was requested if he had any closing phrases.
“I’m sorry all this occurred. It was an accident,” he admitted. “I by no means meant to harm her.”
A number of minutes after being administered the deadly concoction, a warden shook Silvia and shouted his identify with no response.
A medic declared Silvia useless shortly after.
The 61-year-old was sentenced to demise after being convicted of first-degree homicide of his estranged spouse Patricia Silvia and tried first-degree homicide of his mother-in-law Betty Woodard.
Courtroom information present that Silvia bought a shotgun earlier that 12 months and went to his mother-in-law’s home within the Orlando space the place Patricia had been residing because the couple separated two months prior.
The household was in the course of a cookout when Silvia arrived. After makes an attempt to reconcile failed, authorities stated Silvia retrieved his shotgun from his truck and shot his spouse and his mother-in-law.
After Silvia was put to demise, Patricia’s sister Pamela Wyatt stated “nothing that occurs at this time may give us these stolen years.”
“No execution can return Patricia to her kids and provides her the grandchildren she dreamed of realizing,” she stated.
“However at this time could be a possibility to keep in mind that Patricia’s life was larger than the horrible act that ended it.”
Silvia is the thirteenth demise row prisoner executed within the Sunshine State this 12 months.
Florida has carried out greater than half of the nation’s 23 executions thus far in 2026 and has two extra scheduled for September.
Final 12 months, the Sunshine State led the way in which with the best variety of executions throughout the nation — making up 19 of the overall 47 individuals put to demise within the US.
DeSantis, who’s in his closing time period, has signed extra demise warrants than some other governor in Florida’s historical past.
He beforehand stated he wished to give closure to the households who’ve typically waited over 40 years to see their family members’ killers be punished by demise.
In 2023, he signed laws so as to add the demise penalty as a doable punishment for convicted youngster intercourse abusers.
The state had its first double execution since 1964 on July 28 when James Duckett was put to demise precisely six hours earlier than Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr.
All Floridian demise row inmates are executed by way of a deadly injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the center, in line with the Division of Corrections.
With Publish wires
