Fort Lauderdale, FL — Kayle Bates, 67, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison near Starke, under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The execution is set for 6 p.m., marking Florida’s 10th death sentence carried out in 2025, further extending the state record for a single year. Two more executions are planned within the next month.
Florida’s Execution Numbers Skyrocket
Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the highest annual total for Florida executions was eight in 2014. However, the state has surpassed that mark this year, with Florida executing more people than any other state in 2025, as noted by AP News. Texas and South Carolina follow, each with four executions.
Bates’ Conviction and Crime Details
Bates was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and attempted sexual battery in the June 14, 1982, killing of Janet White in Bay County in the Florida Panhandle.
- Bates abducted White from the insurance office where she worked.
- He took her into nearby woods, attempted to rape her, and then stabbed her to death.
- He also tore a diamond ring from her finger before leaving the scene.
Appeals and Final Legal Efforts
Bates’ legal team has filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a federal lawsuit challenging the process for signing death warrants, alleging discriminatory practices by DeSantis. However, last Tuesday, the federal lawsuit was dismissed, with the court finding flaws in the statistical analysis provided.
“Even if the numbers were accurate, they wouldn’t necessarily prove discrimination,” said the judge.
On the same day, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Bates’ pending claims, including an argument that his organic brain damage had not been properly considered during his second penalty phase. The court ruled that Bates had three decades to raise these claims but had failed to do so in time.
A final U.S. Supreme Court decision is still pending on Bates’ last appeal.
Upcoming Executions in Florida
Bates’ execution is one of several scheduled in Florida for 2025. Curtis Windom, 59, is set to be executed on Aug. 28 for the 1992 killings of three people in the Orlando area. Following him, David Pittman, 63, is scheduled for execution on Sept. 17 after he was convicted of fatally stabbing his estranged wife’s sister and parents in 1990.
Florida executions are carried out using a three-drug lethal injection protocol: a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart.
What are your thoughts on the execution of Kayle Bates and Florida’s growing death penalty rate? Let us know in the comments.
