Florida Governor Ron DeSantis withdraws death warrant for William Thompson

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis withdrew a death warrant for 74-year-old death row inmate William Thompson on October 8, 2026, the New York Post reported. The decision came five days before Thompson was scheduled to be executed in Florida. The New York Post stated that the move followed reports that Thompson is suffering from dementia. [1]

Thompson is one of the longest-serving death row inmates in Florida, according to the New York Post. He was convicted 50 years ago for a torture murder that police at the time described as the meanest murder in Miami-Dade. [1]

The United States executed 47 people in 2025, all of whom were male, according to record data. That total marked the highest number of executions carried out in the country in 16 years, with methods including lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, and firing squad. [2]

In a separate case on death row, Tennessee inmate Christa Pike survived a botched lethal injection attempt on September 30 after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, as FTMQ News reported earlier. Pike woke up conscious and speaking nearly a week later, and a judge ordered state officials to preserve all evidence connected to the failed execution. [5][6]