A Florida execution on Thursday marked the 11th carried out in the state this year, setting a new record under Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has signed more death warrants in a single year than any other governor in state history.

Curtis Windom Put to Death

Curtis Windom, 59, was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke and pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m., according to prison officials. He had been sentenced to die for the Nov. 7, 1992, murders of his girlfriend Valerie Davis, her mother Mary Lubin, and Johnnie Lee, a man Windom claimed owed him $2,000.

Windom’s case drew notoriety for its brutal details. Court records show that on the day of the murders, a friend told Windom that Lee had won $114 at a greyhound racetrack. Windom responded, “You’re gonna read about me,” before purchasing a revolver at Walmart. He then hunted down Lee, shooting him four times — twice in the back and twice at close range.

He later went to Davis’ apartment and fatally shot her in front of a witness. He also wounded another man before killing Davis’ mother, Lubin, as she sat in her car at a stop sign.

Windom was sentenced to death for the murders and received an additional 22-year prison term for attempted murder.

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Daughter Opposed Florida Execution

Windom’s daughter, Curtisia, who was only a child at the time of the killings, had sought to block her father’s execution. Speaking through an anti-death penalty advocacy group that delivered more than 5,000 petition signatures to Gov. DeSantis, she said:

“Forgiveness comes with time, and 33 years is a long time. I, myself, have forgiven my father.”

Despite appeals citing mental health issues and claims of incompetent legal representation, the Florida Supreme Court and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his case. His final appeal was denied just one day before his execution.

Florida Leads the Nation in Executions

Windom was the 30th person executed in the U.S. in 2025, with Florida outpacing all other states. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Florida’s execution total surpasses Texas and South Carolina, each with four this year.

The previous record for executions in Florida was set in 2014, when eight inmates were put to death. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Florida has now carried out more executions than nearly any other state.

The next execution, for David Joseph Pittman, 63, is scheduled for Sept. 17, 2025.

Florida’s Death Row

According to a Tampa Bay Times analysis, inmates executed in Florida over the past decade have spent an average of 27.6 years on death row, compared to the national average of 22.4 years.

Florida executions are carried out with a three-drug protocol: a sedative, a paralytic, and a final drug to stop the heart, as outlined by the Florida Department of Corrections.

The last Florida execution before Windom’s occurred on Aug. 19, 2025, when Kayle Bates, 67, was put to death for the abduction and murder of a Panhandle woman.