Florida carried out its 17th execution of 2026 on October 15, putting James Robertson to death for the 2008 strangling of his cellmate, Frank Richard Hart. Robertson’s final words were “Nah, I’m straight,” and he smiled at observers before the lethal injection began at 12:22 p.m. inside Florida State Prison in Starke. Two more executions are already scheduled before the end of the year, putting Florida well ahead of any other state.
The timing drew attention. Just two weeks earlier, Tennessee botched a lethal injection, and that failure is still fresh in the national conversation about capital punishment. Outside the prison in Starke, protesters from the advocacy group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty called Florida’s pace a “killing spree” and a “disgusting rate.” Rebecca Hart, the victim’s daughter, was inside as a witness.
Here on the Suncoast, we may be hours from Starke, but Florida’s choices on this issue belong to all of us. Whether you support capital punishment or oppose it, the speed at which the state is moving is worth understanding. What do you think Florida’s execution rate says about the state right now? Tell us on the station’s Facebook page.
