Winter Park, Florida

Florida executed William Frances Silvia, 61, by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. He was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife, Patricia Wyatt, and wounding her mother, Betty Woodard, during a September 2006 cookout after Wyatt left him and moved back in with her family. Silvia bought a shotgun and confronted the family after failing to reconcile with Wyatt. Woodard, who survived but lost an eye and part of her hearing and sense of smell, witnessed the execution. Silvia was first sentenced to death in 2008; that sentence was later vacated on appeal before he was resentenced to death in 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court both rejected last-minute stay requests, including one arguing his state-appointed counsel had a conflict of interest.

Silvia is the 13th person executed in Florida this year and among 22 nationwide, as Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration continues an aggressive pace of executions, including a rare double execution in July. Florida accounts for more than half of U.S. executions in 2026, after leading the nation with a record 19 executions in 2025. Two more Florida executions are scheduled for September: Harold Gene Lucas on Sept. 1 and Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. on Sept. 10.