Last night, Florida executed Tommy Gudinas — the seventh execution to take place in our state this year. Governor DeSantis has officially surpassed his record number of executions in one year. And sadly, if Mike Bell’s July 15th execution proceeds, it will be the eighth this year.
Please take a moment to read and share our statement on Tommy’s execution, which includes powerful words from Tommy’s sister, who grappled with the harm her brother committed and the grief of losing him to more violence, especially after the brutal childhood they had endured.
I am always moved by the number of you who show up in person to vigils around the state and/or join us virtually. I know that every time you show up and speak out against an execution, you help us move this conversation forward. I remain extremely proud of the resilience of all of our allies in the face of such unrelenting killing.
As has been the case this whole year, there is no time to rest. Mike Bell is set to be the next victim of Florida’s state-sponsored cruelty. His execution is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 at 6 pm for the 1993 retaliatory murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith.
We are still digesting all the details — but deeply troubling evidence came to light in Mike’s case this past Monday, during a very rare death warrant evidentiary hearing. Prior to being called to testify on Monday, key state witnesses swore in affidavits that their trial testimony was false. At least one revealed he was coached and threatened by the prosecutor and the lead detective, and that he had been given special treatment — released from the jail multiple times for personal visits with his wife.
However, at Monday’s hearing, these witnesses, clearly nervous and uncomfortable, distanced themselves from their affidavits and exercised their right to remain silent. What changed? Despite repeated requests from the defense that the witnesses be granted immunity so the truth could finally be brought to light, the State and the Court declined to grant that request. The witnesses were threatened with perjury if they stuck with their sworn affidavit – an offense that could carry up to an additional 15 years in prison.
When I started my career as a prosecutor, every single Miami courtroom had a plaque on the wall emblazoned with the words: “We who labor here seek only the truth.” And yet, what Mike’s hearing demonstrated on Monday was that the State of Florida doesn’t actually care about learning the truth. Especially when that truth-seeking process threatens to throw a wrench in their now well-oiled machinery of death.
We have less than three weeks before the State plans to kill Mike. His lawyers will continue to fight for justice in the courts, but in the meantime — you can and must sign Mike’s petition and bombard the Governor’s office with calls (850) 717-9337 and letters asking him to halt this execution so that the truth about Mike’s case can be heard.
Onward,
Maria DeLiberato
FADP Executive Director
P.S. Please join us tomorrow at 3 pm ET for a very special webinar hosted by our friends at Death Penalty Focus. We will discuss our urgent fight to stop Florida’s record-breaking pace of executions and its alarming expansion of the death penalty under Governor DeSantis’ watch.
Death row inmate Michael Bell’s family members, left and right, attend his June 23, 2025, evidentiary hearing in Jacksonville ahead of his scheduled execution date on July 15. Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union
SueZann Bosler, FADP supporter, violent crime survivor and murder victims’ family member, stood outside the courthouse in Fort Lauderdale wearing her FADP shirt.