ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida man, Samuel Lee Smithers, convicted of the gruesome murders of two women in 1996, is scheduled to be executed on October 14, 2025. The death warrant was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been noted for a record pace of executions in the state. Smithers, now 72 years old, will be the 14th individual executed in Florida during a single year, marking a significant increase under DeSantis, compared to previous governors since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
DeSantis issued the death warrant for Smithers on a Friday night, just a few days prior to the execution of another condemned inmate, David Joseph Pittman, scheduled for Wednesday. In addition, Victor Tony Jones is set to face execution on September 30. Florida has witnessed a series of death warrants signed by DeSantis, resulting in more executions in 2025 than any year since the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty.
The case against Smithers revolves around the murders of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach, who met him on separate occasions at a Tampa motel for sex. At the time, Smithers was working on landscape maintenance for a property with three ponds in Plant City, Florida. On May 28, 1996, the property owner, Marion Whitehurst, who knew Smithers from their church, visited the site and discovered a pool of blood in the carport where Smithers claimed to be trimming tree limbs.
Upon noticing the blood, Whitehurst contacted law enforcement, prompting a sheriff's deputy to inspect the property later that day. Though the blood had been cleaned up, the deputy observed drag marks leading to one of the ponds. Tragically, the bodies of Cowan and Roach were retrieved from the pond, both severely beaten, strangled, and abandoned to die. Smithers later confessed to committing the murders and was subsequently sentenced to death during his trial in 1999. The Florida Supreme Court has upheld both his convictions and sentences.
As of now, 30 people have been executed in the United States in 2025, with Florida at the forefront due to the surge of death warrants issued by DeSantis. The last execution in Florida occurred on August 28, when 59-year-old Curtis Windom was executed for the 1992 murders of his girlfriend, her mother, and another man. This year, Florida has shattered the previous record of eight executions in a single year, a record set in 2014.
The implications of DeSantis's aggressive approach to capital punishment are significant, as Florida continues to reshape its stance on the death penalty. With several executions lined up and a growing number of death warrants being signed, the state is transitioning into a new period of rigorous enforcement of capital punishment.
