Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has withdrawn a death warrant for the first time since taking office, calling off the execution of 74-year-old William Lee Thompson in the wake of the botched execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike.
In a letter to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk, DeSantis blocked Thompson’s scheduled execution by lethal injection. The governor did not lay out any reasoning for his decision in the letter.
Thompson’s attorneys had previously raised serious concerns about his mental competency and declining physical health, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Thompson was sentenced to death for his role in the 1976 murder of 23-year-old Sally Ivester.
He was one of two inmates scheduled to be executed on Tuesday. The other, 63-year-old James Robertson, remains scheduled for execution for the 2008 killing of his cellmate, Frank Hart.
DeSantis’ rare reversal follows Pike’s failed execution earlier this week. Pike was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital and survived.
The failed execution has brought renewed scrutiny to the death penalty across the country, including in states like Florida that have changed their lethal injection procedures to exclude pentobarbital.
Pike’s lawyers report that she is alive and speaking but suffered “severe damage” to her arms. They said she remains handcuffed and shackled to a hospital bed and is receiving “lifesaving care” in the hospital.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has ordered that Pike’s execution be delayed until at least next year.
The developments come as the U.S. military moves forward with scheduling its first execution in decades, that of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that Hasan’s execution would be carried out by firing squad and livestreamed. The plan drew criticism from GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
DeSantis’ decision stands out given Florida’s recent pace of executions. Over the past two years, the number of executions in the state has climbed, with 19 carried out in 2025 and 16 so far in 2026.
Before that, the Sunshine State had never executed more than eight inmates in a single year, a number it reached in both 1984 and 2014, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Florida also leads the nation in the number of executions carried out so far in 2026.
Against that backdrop, the withdrawal of Thompson’s death warrant marks a notable first for DeSantis, who has overseen the state’s sharp rise in executions.
With the governor offering no explanation in his letter, the move comes as Pike’s botched execution continues to fuel debate over lethal injection, and as attention turns to the military’s planned firing squad execution of Hasan.
Robertson’s execution remains on the schedule, while Thompson, whose lawyers have pointed to concerns over his mental and physical condition, will not face the death chamber as planned.
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