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Thoughts From Man Set To Be Executed Next In Florida

Most recent letter the reporter recieved from Michael Lambrix.
Most recent letter the reporter recieved from Michael Lambrix.

Michael Lambrix is set to be executed on Oct. 5.

He was next in line to be executed when a U.S. Supreme Court decision threw Florida's death penalty into limbo. He was one of two Death Row inmates who had active death warrants for a year and a half. Mark Asay, the other inmate, was executed on Aug. 24, breaking the hiatus.

Michael Lambrix
Credit Miami Herald
Michael Lambrix

Lambrix was one of the subjects of a WLRN documentary, , which looked into why the death penalty was put on hold for such a long time and what effect that has on people on Death Row, their families and victims' families.

Read More: 

A few days before Asay's execution, Lambrix wrote a letter to WLRN. He raised concerns about the new lethal injection protocol that would be used to execute Asay, saying he feared it would cause some pain. But, Lambrix said, the tradition of using a lethal injection protocol that appears as if the inmate is falling asleep makes it easier for the Department of Corrections to continue executing inmates.

Asay was executed using a drug—etomidate—that had never before been used in an execution in the U.S. He  did not present any signs to suggest that the drug worked any differently than the old protocol.

In his letter to WLRN, Lambrix predicted he would be next. Read more of his thoughts below:

A cell on Florida's Death Row.
Credit Florida Department of Corrections
A cell on Florida's Death Row.

Lambrix was convicted of the 1983 murders of Aleisha Bryant and Clarence Moore Jr. in Glades County. In a warrant for Lambrix's execution, Gov. Rick Scott wrote that Lambrix "lured Moore outside and viciously attacked him with a tire iron, repeatedly hitting him in the head and fracturing his skull. Lambrix then called Bryant to come outside where he attacked her, kicking her in the head and strangling her.”

In a 2016 interview with WLRN, Lambrix denied he murdered either of them. He claimed he saw Moore strangling Bryant and in an attempt to save her, Lambrix hit Moore in the head with a tire iron.

"I'm fighting to prove my innocence and be free,"  Lambrix said.

This is the third time in 30 years he has been moved to Death Watch to await his execution.

 

Copyright 2020 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit .

Wilson Sayre was born and bred in Raleigh, N.C., home of the only real barbecue in the country (we're talking East here). She graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she studied Philosophy.
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