Florida execution called off after DeSantis withdraws death warrant for the first time

MIAMI (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has withdrawn a death warrant for the first time since taking office, calling off a man’s execution just days before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection in the nation’s busiest death chamber.

The Republican governor, who has aggressively used the death penalty in his final term, signed a letter Thursday withdrawing the death warrant for William Lee Thompson. The 74-year-old inmate had been set to die Tuesday for the murder and kidnapping of Sally Ivester in 1976.

A second Florida execution scheduled for the same day is still set to take place. James Robertson, 63, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and waived all appeals in the 2008 strangling of Frank Hart while the men were cellmates at Charlotte Correctional Institution, north of Fort Myers. Robertson told investigators he killed the other man so he could be moved to death row.

A Florida prisoner who claimed he killed his cellmate so he could be moved to death row is set to be executed Tuesday, nearly 18 years after the fatal attack.

James Robertson, 63, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and waived all appeals in the 2008 strangling of Frank Hart. Robertson is set to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke starting at noon.

DeSantis did not provide a reason in the letter but had temporarily stayed Thompson’s execution last month pending a psychiatric evaluation. Florida prison officials, however, had still been preparing for Thompson’s potential execution next week.

Thompson’s attorney, Bri Lacy, said they’re relieved by the result.

“Mr. Thompson suffers from dementia and his health is failing — both of which were gravely concerning with an impending execution,” Lacy said in an email. “Now that Mr. Thompson is no longer under a death warrant, we hope FDOC (Florida Department of Corrections) will relocate him to an adequate medical facility and provide the care he needs.”

The move comes at a time of escalating attention on the death penalty in the U.S.

In Tennessee, Christa Pike survived an execution attempt last week despite receiving two lethal doses of pentobarbital. On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan would be livestreamed.

Thompson will remain on Florida’s death row, and a new death warrant could be signed for him in the future.

A spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Florida carried out 19 executions last year, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida became the first state in nearly a decade to execute two prisoners in one day.