Overview
- Frank Athen Walls, 58, was executed by a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford and pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. ET on Dec. 18.
- He was sentenced to death for the 1987 murders of Edward Alger and Ann Peterson and was later linked by DNA evidence and admissions to three additional killings from 1985 to 1987.
- The Florida Supreme Court rejected his claim of intellectual disability last week, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay hours before the execution.
- Walls' death is Florida’s 19th execution of 2025, and nationwide executions have reached 47 this year, the highest U.S. total since the late 2000s.
- Florida’s rapid pace has renewed debate over appeals capacity, lethal-injection practices, and recent legal changes such as allowing nonunanimous jury recommendations for death.