A Rapid Pace of Executions Shocks the State

Florida scheduled two additional executions for 2025, bringing the state’s total to six, a pace unseen in decades. Glen Edward Rogers, a 62-year-old convicted serial killer known as “The Cross Country Killer,” faced lethal injection on May 15, 2025, at Florida State Prison in Starke for the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs. Anthony Wainwright, 54, convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart in 1994, is set to die on June 10, 2025. These death warrants were signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, highlighting Florida’s aggressive reinstatement of the death penalty. Sparking outrage and grief among advocates and families. With four executions already carried out this year, the state’s swift action has reignited a national debate over capital punishment, leaving communities torn between justice and mercy.

Why This Matters Now

The six executions in 2025 have marked a dramatic escalation from one in 2024 and six in 2023, with DeSantis pushing to clear Florida’s death row. Rogers’ execution was set for 6 p.m. EDT following the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of his appeal, which cited his porphyria condition as potentially causing excruciating pain during lethal injection. Wainwright’s case, still open to final appeals, has drawn scrutiny for its brutality and his prior escape from a North Carolina prison. The rapid scheduling has stunned anti-death penalty groups. The Death Penalty Information Center notes Florida’s 2025 total surpasses the national average of 18 executions annually since 2015. Public protests outside Florida State Prison and heated discussions on platforms like X highlight a divided state. Some hail the executions as justice, and others mourn the loss of human life.

The Convicts: Crimes That Led to Death Row

Glen Edward Rogers

Rogers, convicted of murdering Tina Marie Cribbs in a Tampa motel room in 1995, stabbed the 34-year-old mother after meeting her at a bar. He stole her car, leading to his arrest in Kentucky. Rogers, also sentenced to death in California for killing Sandra Gallagher, claimed multiple victims across the U.S., earning his chilling nickname. His appeals were denied, sealing his fate after citing childhood trauma and a blood disorder.

Anthony Wainwright

Wainwright abducted Carmen Gayheart from a Lake City supermarket parking lot in 1994, days after escaping a North Carolina prison. The 23-year-old was raped, driven for over an hour, strangled, and shot twice in the head. Arrested after a Mississippi shootout, Wainwright’s crime was deemed “extremely wicked” by a judge, justifying his death sentence. His final appeal is pending.

Executed in 2025

James Dennis Ford (February 13): Convicted of murdering a Pensacola couple during a 1997 fishing trip, leaving their children orphaned.
Edward James (March 20): Executed for the 1993 killing of an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother in Orlando, a crime that shocked the city.
Michael Tanzi (April 8): Strangled Janet Acosta, a Miami Herald employee, in 2000 after abducting her during her lunch break.
Jeffrey Hutchinson (May 1): A Gulf War veteran, executed for the 1998 shotgun killings of his girlfriend and her three children in Crestview, despite clemency pleas from veterans citing his PTSD.

Florida’s Death Penalty System: A Legal Framework

Florida’s death penalty, reinstated in 1976 after a U.S. Supreme Court ban, allows lethal injection or electrocution via “Old Sparky,” though the former is standard. The state’s three-drug protocol (etomidate, rucuronium bromide, potassium acetate) has faced challenges, as seen in Rogers’ appeal over potential pain. Since 1924, Florida has executed over 300 individuals, with 196 before 1964. Currently, 291 inmates remain on death row. DeSantis’ administration has streamlined executions, signing warrants faster than predecessors, a policy shift tied to 2023 legislation easing death penalty requirements. The Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court oversee appeals, but recent denials, like Rogers’ and Hutchinson’s, show limited reprieve.

Voices of Victims and Families

The pain of victims’ families looms large. Cribbs’ relatives, silent in recent reports, supported Rogers’ 1997 death sentence, seeking closure for their daughter’s brutal death. Gayheart’s family, devastated by her abduction and murder, has not commented publicly, but court records describe their anguish during Wainwright’s trial. Conversely, Hutchinson’s execution drew pleas from veterans, arguing his Gulf War trauma warranted mercy. A plea that moved some but failed to sway DeSantis. Anti-death penalty advocates, like Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP), mourn each execution, holding vigils outside Starke’s prison, their signs reading, “Stop the Killing.”

Ethical and Legal Controversies

The death penalty divides Florida. Supporters, including DeSantis, argue it delivers justice for heinous crimes, citing victims like Gayheart, who was killed as she planned to pick up her children. Opponents, including the ACLU and Death Penalty Information Center, call it inhumane. Pointing to botched executions nationwide. Seventy-three lethal injections failed over 50 years, per a 2024 report. Rogers’ appeal focused on the risks of pain from his medical condition, echoing concerns about the lethal injection’s reliability. Nationally, 27 states retain the death penalty, but moratoriums in states like California contrast Florida’s approach. Per a 2024 Gallup poll, public opinion shows 53% support for capital punishment, down from 71% in 2000, reflecting shifting views. X posts reveal polarized sentiment, with some praising DeSantis’ resolve and others decrying “state-sanctioned murder.”

National and Historical Context

Florida’s six executions in 2025 outpace most states, with 15 total U.S. executions this year, including two by firing squad in South Carolina. Since 1976, the U.S. has executed over 1,500 people, with lethal injection dominant. DeSantis’ policy aligns with conservative states like Alabama, which uses nitrogen gas but contrasts with 23 states that abolished capital punishment. The national uptick (10 executions by April 2025) suggests a resurgence. Yet global trends lean toward abolition, with 144 countries death-penalty-free.

Public Reaction and Protests

Protests have intensified outside Florida State Prison with activists gathering with candles and prayers before each execution. On May 1, Hutchinson’s execution drew veterans and faith groups, their signs pleading for clemency. X posts reflect raw emotion: one user wrote, “Justice for victims, but at what cost to our humanity?” while another stated, “Criminals like Rogers deserve no mercy.” Polls and social media show a split: a 2025 Florida poll found 49% support executions, 41% oppose, and 10% are undecided.

Looking Ahead

Florida’s surge in executions is igniting concerns about the state's direction on capital punishment. Florida’s increasingly aggressive pace raises logistical and ethical questions. Including the risk of depleting its supply of lethal injection drugs, a crisis that recently forced South Carolina to resort to the firing squad. As the state pushes forward, families of victims wait for a sense of closure, abolition advocates call for an end to the practice, and Florida finds itself once again at the center of the national death penalty debate. As Starke’s prison prepares for its next somber ritual, the state grapples with a question that haunts every execution: does justice heal, or merely deepen, the wounds of loss?

Florida Schedules Two More Executions in 2025, Reaching Six Amid Controversy

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