On Tuesday, Florida plans to execute Samuel “Sammy” Lee Smithers, a 72-year-old man showing signs of dementia and severe cognitive decline. If the execution is carried out, it will be the 14th state-sanctioned murder to take place in our state this year — more than ever in history. There’s still time to take action: sign the petition and send a message to Governor DeSantis now.
What sets this case apart is the extraordinary courage of Mr. John Cowan, the father of one of the victims. In court, he pleaded with the judge not to sentence Sammy to death. His words, spoken nearly three decades ago but true to this very day, are a testament to grace, humility, and the kind of love that refuses to mirror the violence that took his daughter’s life:
“My opposition to Mr. Smithers’ execution comes partly from a need to honor the memory of my beloved daughter, Christie, and not to subject her with more violence done in her name. Like it or not, Mr. Smithers is one of us, and like us he is also a child of God.
I don’t believe it’s the State’s place to decide when any person should die. That kind of judgment is something that only God is qualified to make.
If Mr. Smithers is sentenced to death, I will spend many more years without any resolution to this tragedy. And if he is actually executed, it will be for me the worst and most brutal possible kind of closure — something that will make me sick and ashamed for the rest of my life whenever I think of my beloved daughter, Christie.”
Mr. Cowan’s words show us what true courage looks like. In the face of profound grief, he leaned towards compassion rather than hatred. I hold no ill will towards families who, in the aftermath of a tragedy, respond differently than Mr. Cowan did, but I personally find immense strength and peace in how he chose humanity, even when the world told him not to.
On Tuesday morning, we will deliver thousands of petition signatures to Governor DeSantis calling on him to stop this execution. At 5pm that evening, unless a court of the Governor intercedes, we will gather for the 5 pm vigil across from Florida State Prison. Please join us at FSP, online, or at one of our local vigils across the state.
The Work Continues: Norman Grim and Bryan Jennings Need You
Even as this execution approaches, two more loom. Norman Grim is scheduled to die on October 28. Please continue to stand with us by signing this petition for clemency and sending a message to Governor DeSantis asking him to stop this execution.
On Friday, World Day Against the Death Penalty, our Governor signed yet another death warrant. This time it was for U.S. Marine Corps veteran Bryan Frederick Jennings, sentenced to death for the 1979 murder of Rebecca “Becky” Kunash. He is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, November 13 — just two days after Veterans Day.
Bryan was just 20 years old at the time of the crime and has spent more than 45 years on Florida’s death row. He is now facing execution without having had state postconviction counsel when the warrant was signed, like Mr. Grim. This execution is yet another constitutional crisis that undermines the rule of law itself. You can sign the petition for Bryan Jennings here.
This is What Humanity Looks Like
I know it can feel like we are always asking you to do the same things. To sign another petition, send another message, show up one more time, and then wait for the next death warrant to be signed, and the next execution to take place. I know you’re probably tired of hearing us say it, but I need to anyway: it matters.
What I love most about my job as FADP’s Communications Director is seeing how these stories, of people, families, and communities, remind the world what humanity looks like. These moments of connection ripple far beyond any single case.
When I speak with the families of those executed and victims’ family members, I carry with me your compassion, your faith, and your refusal to give up. In the face of the most executions Florida has ever seen, we are still here. We are still standing. We are still fighting back.
And for that, I am endlessly grateful.
Onward,
Bridget Maloney
FADP Communications Director
P.S. It’s more important than ever that we have the resources to keep fighting this machinery of death — and to make it to the other side. If you’re able, please make a donation today to help sustain our work for justice and mercy.
John Cowan at Samuel Smithers’ 1999 Spencer hearing