DeSantis withdraws death warrant, halting Florida execution of Thompson

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis withdrew the death warrant for William Lee Thompson on Thursday, halting the 74-year-old's execution that had been scheduled for Tuesday, 13 October. The withdrawal is the first time Florida's governor has pulled a death warrant in his nearly eight years in office. Thompson had been set to die by lethal injection for the 1976 murder and kidnapping of Sally Ivester.theguardian.com

DeSantis signed a letter addressed to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk on Thursday afternoon, giving no reason for the withdrawal. Thompson's counsel and death penalty opponents had reported that the inmate has several health issues, including dementia and heart failure. The move comes amid heightened scrutiny of executions in the United States, following the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee on 30 September.gjsentinel.com

Why the warrant was pulled

Thompson's attorney, Bri Lacy, said the family was relieved. "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."washingtonexaminer.com

Grace Hanna, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Thompson's attorneys had told DeSantis he was "incompetent for execution due to his dementia". "He did not know where he was, stated that 'Bush' was the president, and, at times, did not even recognize that he had been sentenced to death," Hanna said. "In accordance with state law, he underwent an evaluation last week. Officials never released the findings or explained today's withdrawal."

Where the numbers came from

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. Thompson had been scheduled to be one of two inmates executed on Tuesday, alongside James Robertson, 63, who waived all appeals in the 2008 strangling of his cellmate Frank Hart at Charlotte Correctional Institution.

Hours before DeSantis acted on Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court denied Thompson's motion for a stay. Hanna noted that Thompson's counsel has filed a federal lawsuit seeking care for his medical conditions, and pointed to "growing international attention turned to the death penalty in the wake of Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike". Pike, 50, survived two lethal injections on 30 September and was declared brain dead before waking and speaking.

What the courts did hours before

Thompson was arrested two days after Ivester's death in a Dade County motel on 30 March 1976. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery and was sentenced to death on 17 June 1976. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the judgement in 1977, and he was sentenced to death again in September 1978. A death warrant signed by Governor Bob Graham in 1982 was halted by a federal court stay.

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. The second execution, of Robertson, 63, who told investigators he killed Hart so he could be moved to death row, is still scheduled for Tuesday.