Florida is scheduled to carry out its 13th execution of the year on Tuesday, as the state continues its aggressive use of the death penalty under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. William Frances Silvia, 61, is set to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke starting at 6 p.m. local time, after the US Supreme Court denied a request to halt the execution.
Silvia was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder for the 2006 fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and the wounding of her mother, Betty Woodard. According to court records, Silvia purchased a shotgun that year and went to Woodard's Orlando-area home, where his wife had been living since their separation two months earlier. The family was in the middle of a cookout when Silvia arrived, and after an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile, authorities said Silvia retrieved the shotgun from his truck and shot the two women.
Legal History and Appeals
Silvia was first sentenced to death following his 2008 trial. A court later vacated that sentence following an appeal related to Florida's death penalty sentencing procedures, but after being granted a new death penalty phase in 2018, he was again sentenced to death. His attorneys have argued that the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, a Florida state agency that provides legal representation to death row inmates, could not provide adequate legal assistance because it was already helping another death row inmate. The Florida Supreme Court rejected the appeal.
This execution marks a significant milestone in Florida's use of the death penalty. The state has carried out more than half of the 22 executions in the US so far in 2026, and it leads the nation in executions.
Florida's Record on Executions
A total of 47 people were executed in the US in 2025, with Florida leading the way with 19, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.
Two more executions are planned in Florida next month. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is scheduled to die on 1 September, followed by Daniel Owen Conahan Jr, 72, on 10 September. These executions continue the state's aggressive schedule, which has drawn national attention to Florida's role as the busiest death chamber in the US.
