ANALYSIS
Death penalty spikes in 2025: Florida accounts for nearly half of the nation's executions
The Sunshine State's tally is relatively high historically speaking. Only Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia surpassed similar numbers during the capital punishment boom between the late 1990s and early 2000s, an era marked by strong public support, "tough on crime" political rhetoric and harsher criminal policies.
Lethal injection table in execution chamber.
In 2025, the country recorded a significant increase in the number of executions, breaking a trend of more than a decade in which it had remained below 30 executions annually. According to a report from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), 48 people were executed this year, the highest level in the past 15 years.
Most cases have been by lethal injection, although other methods have also been used, such as nitrogen gas, applied to five inmates in Alabama and Louisiana, as well as firing squad, with three executions in South Carolina. No women were executed in 2025.
Florida, the main driver of the upturn
The increase is largely explained by the state of Florida, which carried out 19 executions, accounting for nearly 40% of the national total. No other state has executed so many people in a single year since Texas carried out 24 executions in 2009.
If Florida had maintained similar numbers to 2024, the national total of executions in 2025 would have been comparable to recent years. Outside of Florida, 29 people were executed in 11 states, a figure similar to 2024, when 25 executions were recorded in nine states.
Florida's tally is relatively high historically speaking. Prior to this year, the state had reached a high of eight executions, in 1984 and 2014. Only Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia surpassed similar numbers during the capital punishment boom between the late 1990s and early 2000s, an era marked by strong public support, "tough on crime" political rhetoric and harsher criminal policies.
Most serious crimes leading to executions in the U.S. in 2025
In 2025, although there is no complete public compilation of all the crimes of the 48 executed, the reported cases reflect a consistent pattern of extremely serious crimes:
1. Multiple and especially violent murders
Frank Athen Walls, executed in Florida, was convicted of multiple murders committed in the 1980s, including homicides during a home invasion and a rape followed by death. Walls also admitted to being involved in at least three additional murders in that period.
2. Child murder
Bryan Frederick Jennings was executed in Florida for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl, one of the most heinous crimes on record among 2025 cases.
3. Rape and murder
In Tennessee, Harold Wayne Nichols was executed for the rape and murder of a 20-year-old college girl, in addition to his confession to committing other sexual assaults.
4. Homicides during domestic invasions or crimes
Another case was that of Marion Bowman Jr., executed in South Carolina for the murder of Kandee Martin, a homicide with characteristics that the prosecution considered aggravating enough for capital punishment.
5. Brutal murders during burglaries or invasions
In Oklahoma, Wendell Grissom was executed for the murder of a woman during a home invasion related to a burglary.
Society
Florida executes by lethal injection Curtis Windom, convicted of triple homicide in 1992
Virginia Martínez
Executions based on old convictions
Four states: Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah, carried out executions in 2025 without holding new capital trials or imposing new death sentences. All executions in these territories were based on convictions handed down decades ago, when social support for the death penalty was considerably higher.
Polls reflect a decline in citizen support in several of these states. In Louisiana, a Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs poll at Louisiana State University showed in 2022 that only 51% of respondents supported capital punishment, down 7 points from 2018. In Utah, a 2021 poll revealed that 40% of adults supported eliminating the death penalty, and a 2017 study indicated that in this same state 64% preferred alternatives for those convicted of murder.
Vulnerabilities among the executed
- Serious mental illness (28 people).
- Low IQ, brain damage, or indications of intellectual disability (26).
- History of child trauma, neglect, or abuse (29).
In total, at least 40 executed individuals had one or more of these factors.
Youth and brain development
Eight people executed this year were under 21 years old when they committed the crime. According to a report from the Death Penalty Information Center in April 2025, experts agree that brain development continues well into the twenties, and that many people under the age of 21 show deficits in impulse control and risk assessment comparable to those under 18.
Death penalty legislation in most states does not view age under 21 as an automatic exclusionary factor.
Society
Florida: man convicted of kidnapping, attempted rape and murder of woman in 1982 executed
Víctor Mendoza
Non-unanimous juries and long waits
Thirteen people executed in 2025 were convicted by non-unanimous juries, a practice now banned in all states except Alabama and Florida.
On average, those executed spent 27 years on death row, implying that they were sentenced in a context of lower-quality legal defense and less understanding of mitigating factors such as mental illness or trauma, the DPIC analysis reflects.
Veterans and race
The year was also notable for an unusually high number of military veterans executed: 10 in all, seven of them in Florida. In many cases, jurors heard no relevant evidence about the impact of military service on the defendants.
In racial terms, 15 of the 48 people executed (31%) were people of color: 13 black, one Latino and one mixed race.
Nearly 17% of the execution cases involved victims of color, while historically about 25% of the victims in execution cases were non-white.
Society
Florida: Man who killed pregnant girlfriend faces death penalty for double homicide
Williams Perdomo
The role of Ron DeSantis and the political context
Critics and opponents of the death penalty question whether the increase in executions is politically motivated, especially in the wake of the resumption of federal executions during Donald Trump's tenure and his new push after returning to the presidency.
Florida currently holds 251 people on death row, the second-highest number in the country after California, which has not carried out executions since 2006.
Public support at historic lows
Despite the rebound in executions, social support continues to fall. A Gallup poll released in October found that only 52% of Americans support the death penalty for people convicted of murder, the lowest level recorded since 1972.
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