With just days remaining until his scheduled execution, Anthony Floyd Wainwright has filed an urgent application for a stay of execution with the Supreme Court of the United States. Wainwright, condemned to death for a 1994 murder, robbery, kidnapping, and sexual battery in Florida, is set to be executed on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
The application, addressed to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas as Circuit Justice for the Eleventh Circuit, seeks to halt the execution pending the Supreme Court’s review of Wainwright’s petition for a writ of certiorari.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Wainwright’s death sentence and denied his motion for a stay of execution on June 3, 2025.
READ: Florida Death Row Inmate Loran K. Cole Executed After 30 Years: Final Moments Witnessed By 19
Wainwright’s legal team argues that a stay is warranted given “significant constitutional violations” that allegedly occurred during his trial and sentencing.
The application highlights two primary concerns:
- Brady Claim: Wainwright asserts that the Florida Supreme Court fundamentally misunderstood and misapplied Supreme Court precedent concerning prosecutorial misconduct, specifically Brady v. Maryland and its progeny, regarding the disclosure of exculpatory evidence.
- Eighth Amendment Issue: The application also points to what it describes as Florida’s “troubling pattern of refusing to meaningfully consider” Eighth Amendment claims by imposing inadequate procedural bars, thereby undermining the right to individualized sentencing consideration in capital cases.
According to the application, these issues are “worthy of the Court’s certiorari review to ensure that capital defendants in Florida are not deprived of their constitutional rights to due process and meaningful sentencing proceedings under the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.”
The filing emphasizes that “irreparable harm will result if that decision is not stayed,” given the irreversible nature of the death penalty. It further contends that the Florida public has an interest in ensuring that capital sentences are imposed only after a fair process and meaningful review, arguing that Wainwright’s claims “deserve to be considered outside of the accelerated constraints of his execution.”
READ: Florida Death Row Inmate Executed 35 Years After He Raped, Brutally Murdered Woman
Anthony Floyd Wainwright was convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart. According to court records, Wainwright and co-perpetrator Richard Hamilton accosted Gayheart at gunpoint, stole her car, and subsequently raped, strangled, and shot her twice in the back of the head. They were apprehended the following day after a shootout with police in Mississippi.
A jury unanimously recommended the death penalty for Wainwright, and the trial court found six aggravating circumstances, including that the murder was committed during a robbery, kidnapping, and sexual battery, and was deemed “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, and cold, calculated, and premeditated.”
READ: Florida Executes ‘Morbidly Obese’ Michael Tanzi For Brutal 2000 Murder Of Janet Acosta
Since his convictions became final in 1998, Wainwright has filed numerous unsuccessful challenges in both state and federal courts, including seven prior successive postconviction motions.
The Florida Supreme Court, in its June 3rd decision, rejected his amended eighth successive motion for postconviction relief, concluding that his claims were either procedurally barred, lacked merit, or failed to meet the criteria for newly discovered evidence.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Wainwright’s application for a stay of execution is anticipated in the coming days, as his execution date looms.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Connect with us: Follow the Tampa Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news and updates.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
