Florida is scheduled to execute William Frances Silvia, 61, by lethal injection on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Silvia was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2006 fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and the wounding of her mother, Betty Woodard, at a home near Orlando.
Court records show Silvia was first sentenced to death in 2008 following a trial. That sentence was later vacated due to appeals regarding the state's sentencing procedures, but a new penalty phase in 2018 resulted in another death sentence. A final appeal remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court after the Florida Supreme Court rejected a challenge regarding the adequacy of legal representation provided by the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel.
This scheduled execution marks the 13th in Florida in 2026, representing more than half of the 22 executions carried out across the United States so far this year. The state previously executed 19 people in 2025, the highest number since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976. In July, Florida became the first state in nearly a decade to execute two prisoners on the same day.
A person subject to this process would experience a specific three-drug lethal injection protocol consisting of a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, as administered by the Florida Department of Corrections. For the legal system, these cases test the capacity of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, a state agency tasked with representing death row inmates. Silvia’s attorneys have specifically raised concerns that the agency’s workload, including simultaneous representation of other death row inmates, prevents it from providing adequate legal assistance.
The knock-on effects of Florida's current execution rate include a continuing focus on state sentencing procedures and the legal precedents regarding inmate representation. Florida’s activity contributes to a national landscape where 47 total executions were recorded in 2025. What happens next depends on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Silvia's pending appeal; if it is denied, the execution is set for 6 p.m. local time. Following this, Harold Gene Lucas is scheduled for execution on September 1, and Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. is scheduled for September 10.