Florida is scheduled to execute Curtis Windom, 59, on Thursday for the 1992 murders of his girlfriend, her mother, and a man he claimed owed him $2,000. The execution, if carried out, will mark Florida’s 11th this year, setting a new state record.
The execution will also make Windom the 30th person put to death in the United States in 2025. Florida currently leads the nation in executions, surpassing Texas and South Carolina, which have each recorded four this year. Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a significant number of death warrants in recent months, driving the increase.
Windomâs final appeal was denied Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Court records detail that on November 7, 1992, Windom killed Johnnie Lee, Valerie Davis, and Mary Lubin in the Orlando area. Testimony revealed that Windom purchased a .38-caliber revolver and ammunition from Walmart before seeking out Lee, who he believed owed him money. He shot Lee multiple times before proceeding to Davisâ apartment, where he fatally shot her in front of a witness. He also shot and wounded another man before encountering Lubin, Davisâ mother, whom he killed in her car.
Windom was sentenced to death for the three murders and received a 22-year sentence for attempted murder. Davis was the mother of one of Windomâs children. His daughter, Curtisia Windom, has publicly opposed the execution, urging forgiveness despite the crimes.
Over the years, Windomâs attorneys filed numerous appeals, arguing ineffective legal representation and insufficient consideration of his mental health history. The Florida Supreme Court rejected these claims, ruling that introducing mental health evidence would have allowed prosecutors to highlight Windomâs involvement in drug activity and the fact that two of the victims were police informants.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Floridaâs previous record for executions in a single year was eight, set in 2014. The stateâs 2025 pace now exceeds that figure, reflecting a broader national trend of increased capital punishment in select states.
Floridaâs most recent execution occurred on August 19, when Kayle Bates, 67, was executed for the murder of a woman abducted from an insurance office in the Florida Panhandle.
Executions in Florida are carried out by lethal injection using a three-drug protocol: a sedative, a paralytic, and a chemical that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
A 12th execution in Florida is scheduled for September 17, when David Joseph Pittman, 63, is set to face lethal injection. If completed, it would further extend Floridaâs record-setting year.
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