Tallahassee, FL – On Wednesday, August 13, 2025, a delegation of veterans gathered to issue a plea to Governor Ron DeSantis to stop executing veterans. They presented a letter to the Governor’s office, signed by 165 veterans representing more than 1400 years of service in nearly every branch of the U.S. Armed Services. The letter notes, “During your term, five veterans have been executed — Bobby Joe Long, Duane Owen, Edward James, Jeffrey Hutchinson, and Edward Zakrzewski. And you have authorized another one – Kayle Bates, set to be executed on August 19. There are close to 30 veterans remaining on death row, and countless others facing death penalty trials throughout the state…To execute a veteran who was broken by war and left without adequate care is not justice. It is a failure of duty. It is the final abandonment.” If Bates is executed on August 19, he will be the fourth veteran and tenth person executed in Florida this year.
The letter continues, “We can never be a veteran friendly state when our leader is signing off on their deaths at the hands of the State. We urge you now to lead from a place of bravery, to return to the honor code from your service, and to stop setting the executions of our fellow soldiers.” The letter and signatures can be viewed in its entirety here.
Speakers at the Press Conference included: Art Cody, Esq., Captain U.S. Navy, Director, Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy; Tom Dunn, Esq., retired Army Officer and trial attorney for veteran Kayle Bates, scheduled for execution on August 19; David Ferrier, Sergeant U.S. Army, Vietnam veteran, longtime capital defense investigator; and William Kissinger, Airman First Class U.S. Air Force, Vietnam veteran, advocate for criminal justice reform.
View the press conference in its entirety here.
Art Cody, Director, Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy, stated, “The U.S. veteran population has undergone an experience profoundly different than civilians. The arduous, and at times, gruesome conditions that are part and parcel of war include the daily threat of death from various sources and viewing the aftermath of the carnage of modern war. Such frequent association with violence and death does not leave one unscathed. Executing our nation’s warriors should call for deep soul searching. We owe veterans better than what they are now receiving in Florida.”
Florida death row exoneree and veteran Ron Wright added, “To execute our brave men and women who have served in our armed forces is a betrayal. We urge Governor DeSantis to recognize the humanity of these men and women and take action to prevent their needless deaths.”
“Florida should be protecting our veterans and ensuring those who return home with injuries, both visible and invisible, get the support that they deserve,” said U.S. Army Master Sergeant and assistant public defender Brent Schneider. ”They have served honorably to protect us, and now we have a duty to ensure that they are protected and not subject to execution.”