USA - Samuel Smithers (FL)

USA - Florida. Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, White, was executed on October 14

October 14, 2025:

October 14, 2025 - Florida. Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, White, was executed on October 14

Smithers was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Smithers was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on June 25, 1999.

According to court records, Smithers met Christy Cowan and Denise Roach on different dates in May 1996 at a Tampa motel to pay them for sex.

The women's bodies were found in a pond on the banks of which the man had been seen acting suspiciously. Both women had been severely beaten, strangled and left in the pond to die.

The Florida Supreme Court denied an appeal from Smithers last week. His attorneys had argued that his age should make him ineligible for execution under the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Although Smithers would be one of the oldest people ever executed in Florida, the justices ruled that the elderly are not categorically exempt from the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment Tuesday evening.

As for the execution, the curtain to the death chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6:00 p.m. execution time, with Smithers already strapped to a table and an IV in his arm. When asked if he had a final statement, he responded, “No sir.” Florida executions are carried out with a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart.

The administration of the lethal drugs began almost immediately. Initially, Smithers’ breathing was heavy and he underwent slight convulsions before all movements eventually stopped. A warden shook Smithers and shouted his name, but there was no response.

As more time passed, the man’s complexion began to turn gray. A medic entered the chamber at 6:14 p.m. to check his vital signs and Smithers was declared dead a minute later. Afterward, Department of Corrections spokesman Ted Veerman said the execution was carried out without incident.

Smithers becomes the 14th inmate to be put to death this year in Florida, the 120th overall since Florida resumed capital punishment in 1979, the 36th execution of the year in the US, and the n° 1643 overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977

https://apnews.com/article/florida-execution-samuel-lee-smithers-cf17079bd1228ab58f7ee61de81924a0