On Tuesday night, Florida executed 72-year-old Samuel “Sammy” Lee Smithers for the 1996 murders of Christie Cowan and Denise Roach. He was the oldest person executed in Florida’s modern era. In our written statement and words shared at vigils around the state, we shared about the futility of executing an elderly man who no longer…
Tonight, We the People of the State of Florida executed 72-year-old Samuel “Sammy” Lee Smithers for the 1996 murders of Denise Roach and Christie Cowan. Sammy was the oldest person executed in the modern era of Florida’s death penalty. We killed a man with a profound history of head trauma and brain damage who was…
STARKE, Fla. Today at 6 p.m., the State of Florida plans to execute Samuel “Sammy” Lee Smithers, a 72-year-old man who is showing signs of dementia and severe cognitive decline. If carried out, this would be the 14th execution of the year — both the most in Florida’s history and the most of any state…
