The spiritual adviser to Florida death row inmate William Silvia made a plea Wednesday for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to personally view Silvia’s execution, scheduled to take place Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke at 6 p.m.
“If you’re going to sign it, watch it,” the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood said.
Silvia was convicted in 2008 in Seminole County for the first-degree murder of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and the attempted first-degree murder of Patricia’s mother, Betty Woodward.
On Sept. 22, 2006, Silvia purchased a shotgun and went to his mother-in-law’s home, where Patricia was living and while they were having a cook-out, according to court records. After attempting to reconcile with Patricia, Silvia returned to his truck and retrieved his shotgun. He shot Betty Woodward in the face. He then fatally shot Patricia in the head.
The jury recommended by a vote of 11-1 that he be sentenced to death.
The state of Florida has carried out 12 executions by lethal injection already this year, with two taking place on the same day last month. That was the first double execution on the same day in Florida in more than 50 years. Seven executions have taken place elsewhere in the United States this year.
The rapid pace of executions in Florida began last year, when the state held 19, accounting for roughly 40% of all executions in the country and more than doubling the previous modern record of eight executions in both 1984 and 2014.
Hood is founder of the Execution Intervention Project. He said in a Zoom conference call Wednesday that there have been so many executions over the last year-and-a-half that they are becoming “an afterthought” in Florida. And, as he did in the case of recently executed inmate Dennis Sochor, Hood called on the governor to personally attend Silva’s execution.
“What is going on when the person who is most responsible in government for these executions, the person who signs the warrant, does not even have the courage to show up?” Hood asked. “We’re talking about a dozen of executions in recent years. And Gov DeSantis does not even have the courage to show up? Why? Does he not care? Is he oblivious to these executions happening?
Hood previously served as adviser to two recent Florida death row inmates who have been executed: Dusty Spencer and Sochor.
Silvia’s case is before the Florida Supreme Court, and litigation is expected to land before the U.S. Supreme Court. Silvia realizes his execution will likely take place as scheduled, Hood said.
“The reality is most people in Florida won’t even know it happens next Wednesday,” he said. “It doesn’t have to happen. It is my prayer that we have enough courage to step back from the brink and not execute William Silvia.”
‘I don’t take any joy’
DeSantis recently spoke about the surge of death warrants he has signed since January 2025. Speaking at the Florida Sheriffs Association summer conference near Miami July 28, the day of the double executions, the governor said, “I don’t any joy in doing that. It’s a weighty thing.”
He went on to say the legal process from the time a person is sentenced to the death in Florida and the time of the execution is “way too long,” and that he doesn’t intend to let up on death row warrants in his remaining four months-plus in office.
“I think we’ll probably end up having done more [executions] than any administration in the history in the state of Florida. And I’m not like taking any pride in that, because it’s a weighty thing, but to me as we move through those and bring justice, that makes a big difference for a lot of people out there who suffered really, really serious tragedies. So, we’ll continue to do that.”
Since he gave that speech, DeSantis has signed warrants scheduling execution of two more inmates.
Harold Gene Lucas is scheduled for execution on Sept. 1 for the 1976 murder of Jill Piper, and Tuesday, the governor signed off on scheduling the execution of Daniel Conahan Jr. for Sept. 10. Conahan was sentenced in the 1996 murder of Richard Montgomery in Charlotte County.
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