Florida executed its 13th death row prisoner of the year Tuesday evening amid the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty championed by Governor Ron DeSantis.
William Frances Silvia, 61, who was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and injuring his mother-in-law in 2006, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after receiving the lethal three-drug injection at Florida State Prison.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Silvia was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up.
He remained relatively motionless with his eyes and mouth open throughout most of the execution while a priest sat at his feet and prayed.
Before being put to death, Silvia was asked if he had any final words.
“I’m sorry all this happened. It was an accident,” he admitted. “I never meant to hurt her.”
Several minutes after being administered the lethal concoction, a warden shook Silvia and shouted his name with no response.
A medic declared Silvia dead shortly after.
The 61-year-old was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder of his estranged wife Patricia Silvia and attempted first-degree murder of his mother-in-law Betty Woodard.
Court records show that Silvia purchased a shotgun earlier that year and went to his mother-in-law’s house in the Orlando area where Patricia had been living since the couple separated two months prior.
The family was in the middle of a cookout when Silvia arrived. After attempts to reconcile failed, authorities said Silvia retrieved his shotgun from his truck and shot his wife and his mother-in-law.
After Silvia was put to death, Patricia’s sister Pamela Wyatt said “nothing that happens today can give us those stolen years.”
“No execution can return Patricia to her children and give her the grandchildren she dreamed of knowing,” she said.
“But today can be an opportunity to remember that Patricia’s life was bigger than the terrible act that ended it.”
Silvia is the 13th death row prisoner executed in the Sunshine State this year.
Florida has carried out more than half of the country’s 23 executions so far in 2026 and has two more scheduled for September.
Last year, the Sunshine State led the way with the highest number of executions across the country — making up 19 of the total 47 people put to death in the US.
DeSantis, who is in his final term, has signed more death warrants than any other governor in Florida’s history.
He previously said he wanted to give closure to the families who have sometimes waited over 40 years to see their loved ones’ killers be punished by death.
In 2023, he signed legislation to add the death penalty as a possible punishment for convicted child sex abusers.
The state had its first double execution since 1964 on July 28 when James Duckett was put to death exactly six hours before Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr.
All Floridian death row inmates are executed via a lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
With Post wires
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