DeSantis withdraws death warrant for first time, calling off execution

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) withdrew a death warrant for the first time since he became governor, calling off the execution of 74-year-old William Lee Thompson following the botched execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike.

DeSantis’s letter to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk blocks Thompson’s scheduled execution by lethal injection. In the letter, the Florida governor did not outline any reasoning behind his decision.

Thompson’s attorneys previously raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Thompson was sentenced to death for his role in the 1976 murder of 23-year-old Sally Ivester.

Thompson was one of two inmates scheduled to be executed on Tuesday. James Robertson, 63, remains scheduled for execution for the 2008 killing of his cellmate, Frank Hart.

DeSantis’s rare reversal comes after Pike’s failed execution earlier this week, when she was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital and survived.

The failed execution has brought renewed scrutiny to the death penalty nationwide, even in states like Florida that have altered their lethal injection procedure not to include pentobarbital.

Pike’s lawyers report she is alive and speaking but sustained “severe damage” to her arms and remains handcuffed and shackled to a hospital bed and that she was receiving “lifesaving care” in the hospital.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) has ordered that Pike’s execution be delayed until at least next year.

The U.S. military is also scheduling its first execution in decades of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday the execution would be by firing squad and livestreamed, which was criticized by GOP lawmakers — including Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

In the past two years, the number of executions in Florida has increased, with 19 in 2025 and 16 in 2026 so far. Previously, the Sunshine State had not executed more than eight inmates in a year, doing so in 1984 and 2014, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. The state also leads in the highest number of executions in 2026 so far.