lethal injection

Kayle Bates was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted sexual battery in the1982 slaying of 24-year-old Janet Renee White of Lynn Haven.

Michael Bell was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison. Another inmate, Edward Zakrzewski, is scheduled to be the ninth put to death this month.

Michael Bell would be the eighth person put to death in Florida this year, with Edward Zakrzewski scheduled to be the ninth later this month. The state executed six people in 2023 but only one last year.

Tuesday’s decision came hours after several religious leaders from across the state marched to the Capitol to call on Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause executions.

Florida may carry out more executions in 2025 than in any other year in recent history. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed nine death warrants so far. Seven have been carried out.

Edward J. Zakrzewski II pleaded guilty to strangling his wife to death and using a machete to kill his two children in Okaloosa County. He is slated for execution July 31.

The state of Florida carried out its seventh execution of 2025 on Tuesday. An eighth is scheduled, which would be the most in one year since the death penalty was reinstated. Why so many?

Michael Bell's attorney raised a series of issues with the Florida Supreme Court, including that witnesses recently recanted testimony that helped convict his client 30 years ago.

Attorneys for Thomas Gudinas, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday, want the state to turn over records related to the governor's "process for determining who lives and who dies."

Michael Bell, 54, is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 15 for the mistaken-revenge killing of two people outside of Jacksonville bar in 1993.

Thomas Gudinas was convicted in the 1994 murder of Michelle McGrath in Orlando. His representatives argue “evolving standards of decency have rendered the execution of ... constitutionally impermissible.”

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Anthony Wainwright's appeal, allowing the state to carry out his scheduled execution on Tuesday.