re a jury would recommend the death penalty or life in prison. A judge sentenced Robertson to death, and he later waived all post-conviction proceedings. Robertson reiterated his position during a hearing earlier this month, telling a judge that he understood his execution had been scheduled and that he didn't want to make any final appeals to the Florida Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court.

Death penalty opponents question its deterrent effect

While proponents of the death penalty have long claimed that it is a deterrent, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty released a statement saying that this case demonstrates the opposite.

 Frank Hart deserved to be safe in state custody, and his loved ones deserve our compassion,  the group's legal and policy director, Maria DeLiberato, said in the statement.  When someone commits murder to try to secure his own execution, we have to confront the conditions that contributed to that decision and the reality that the existence of the death penalty may have caused the very violence it purportedly prevents. 

A rare reprieve leaves another Florida prisoner on death row

Meanwhile, DeSantis is the third Florida governor to sign a death warrant for Thompson. Bob Graham and Bob Martinez both scheduled executions for Thompson in the 1980s, but years of appeals and stays allowed him to avoid the electric chair, the state's method of execution at the time. The 74-year-old death row inmate was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery in the 1976 killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester.

Thompson will remain on Florida's death row, and a new death warrant could be signed for him in the future. His attorneys have said he suffers from dementia, and his health is failing. They said he should be relocated to an adequate medical facility to get the care he needs.

Only one other Florida inmate remains alive following a death warrant signed by DeSantis. James Dailey, 80, was scheduled to die in late 2019 for the murder of a 14-year-old girl, but a federal judge halted the execution as attorneys argued against his guilt. The stay was eventually lifted, but DeSantis didn't sign a new death warrant. The state halted all executions during the COVID-19 pandemic and didn't restart until 2023.

Florida has the nation's busiest death chamber

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, oversaw 19 executions in 2025, more than any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Robertson would be the state's 17th execution of 2026, with two more already scheduled, not counting Thompson.

William Reaves, 77, is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 20, followed by Jesse Guardado, 64, on Nov. 5. Reaves was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy after dropping a gun in front of the law enforcement officer in 1986. Guardado was convicted of robbing and killing a woman in order to buy drugs in 2004.

If Robertson, Reaves and Guardado are all executed as planned, that would match the state's 2025 total, with eight weeks remaining in 2026.

DeSantis has made few public comments about the unprecedented number of executions but explained previously that his goal is to bring justice to victims' families who have waited decades for the death sentences to be carried out.

 I felt I owed it to them to make sure this ran very smoothly. If I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger,  the governor said last year.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Besides leading all other states last year, Florida has carried out more than half the 30 total executions in the U.S. so far this year. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.