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Gov. DeSantis has signed a death warrant for 80-year-old Willie Crain, Jr., setting his execution for December 10, 2026 at 6pm. Mr. Crain was sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury vote for the 1998 murder of Amanda Brown in Hillsborough County. Please sign his petition now, and stay tuned for more action steps soon. |
Dear friends,
Before Florida executed Jesse Guardado last week, I visited the former Dozier School for Boys, where he spent part of his childhood. At the feet of the statues honoring the children who suffered there, people had left toys and candy, the kinds of things you might bring a child you were going to visit. For years, the boys who grew up and told the truth about Dozier had to fight to be believed. The fact that there’s a place to go today and leave something for those children is one small, visible part of what their persistence made possible.
Jesse called the police and confessed to killing Jackie Malone, and he spent the next two decades taking responsibility for what he had done, supporting his family, and serving as a positive influence to everyone on death row. Florida had a chance to take responsibility for what happened to Jesse in its custody by giving him a real clemency process, one that could have considered what he endured at Dozier alongside his remorse and how much he had changed. As we explained in our statement, Jesse was exactly the kind of person clemency is meant for, yet he never got that chance, and the governor never publicly explained what he considered before deciding to execute him.
That lack of transparency extends from the decision to take a life to how Florida carries it out. While Jesse was under warrant, evidence emerged that Department of Corrections officials used Wite-Out to change expiration dates in the state’s lethal injection drug logs. Floridians should have the right to know why that happened, just like we should have the right to know that our state’s leaders are giving each death warrant the immense attention it deserves.
We’re coming out of an election with real uncertainty about what’s ahead, and there’s also a chance to change course. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has moved to commute the sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row to life without parole. While it may feel like Florida is far away from that, I believe that we’re actually closer than you think. I promise to have more about how you can help reset our current trajectory very soon.
In the meantime, Florida has three executions scheduled. Governor DeSantis has signed a new warrant for Willie Crain, whose execution is set for December 10, and the executions of Thomas Overton, who also survived Dozier, and Ricky Gonzalez are already on the calendar. I’ve included more about each of them below, along with ways you can take action.
Onward,
Grace Hanna
FADP Executive Director
Thomas Overton (11/19)
Florida plans to execute Thomas Overton on November 19 despite a credible claim of innocence. Some of the details in his appeals are so outrageous that they sound made up, but they are unfortunately very true. For example, police handed the evidence to a psychic (who then handled it without gloves)! You can learn more here, and take action with the links below.
Ricardo Gonzalez (12/01)
Florida plans to execute Ricardo “Ricky” Gonzalez on December 1 at 6 p.m. for the 1992 murder of Officer Steven Bauer in Miami-Dade County. At Ricky’s resentencing, four jurors voted to spare his life. The judge recognized Ricky’s brain damage and remorse as reasons to weigh in his favor, but sentenced him to death after the jury voted 8-4. Please add your voice to the chorus of people who believe that he can be held responsible without yet another execution.
Dozier School for Boys (Marianna, FL)