Florida Executes William Silvia, 61, in 13th Death Penalty Case This Year
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 18
Florida Executes William Silvia, 61, in 13th Death Penalty Case This Year
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 18
Summary
William Frances Silvia was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. Tuesday after a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid to halt the execution.
Silvia was put to death for the 2006 shooting that killed his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and wounded her mother, Betty Woodard, at an Orlando-area cookout after a failed reconciliation attempt.
His lawyers argued Florida's Capital Collateral Regional Counsel could not adequately represent him because it was already assisting another death row inmate, but the Florida Supreme Court rejected that appeal.
Florida has now carried out 13 of the 22 U.S. executions so far in 2026, extending an aggressive pace under Governor Ron DeSantis with two more executions scheduled for September.
The state executed 19 people in 2025 — its highest total since the death penalty resumed in 1976 — and in July became the first state in nearly a decade to execute two prisoners in one day.