Florida sets new execution record under Governor DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has scheduled the 20th execution of the year, setting a new state record. The order mandates that 64-year-old Jesse Guardado undergo lethal injection on November 5 at the Florida State Prison for the 2004 murder of 75-year-old Jackie Malone.

This surge in executions comes amid national controversy following a failed lethal injection in Tennessee. In that instance, inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of the lethal injection and remained in critical condition. Consequently, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions in his state for the remainder of 2026.

Florida currently accounts for more than half of the 29 executions recorded across the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Civil rights groups, including Floridians for Alternatives to Death Penalty (FADP), have criticized the acceleration of executions under the DeSantis administration and have petitioned for Guardado to receive life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.