Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant on July 17, 2026, setting an execution date for death row inmate William Frances Silvia, Jr. The execution is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Raiford.
Silvia was convicted of first-degree murder for the September 22, 2006, fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and the attempted first-degree murder of her mother, Betty Woodard.
According to a case summary sent to the governor by Attorney General James Uthmeier, Silvia purchased a 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition on the afternoon of the shooting.
Later that evening, he went to his mother-in-law’s home in Seminole County, where his wife was living and where the family was hosting a cookout. After an attempt to reconcile failed, Silvia retrieved the shotgun from his truck. He shot Woodard in the face, causing severe injuries, and shot Patricia Silvia in the head, killing her.
During a 2008 trial in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, a Seminole County jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 11 to 1. Circuit Judge Donna L. McIntosh sentenced Silvia to death for the murder on January 28, 2009, and to a concurrent life sentence for the attempted murder.
Following his arrest, Silvia spoke to a transporting officer about his marriage, stating, “That’s the reason I’m in this situation. My wife spent all my money. I placed the checking account in her name. She started re-dating her ex-husband. That is the reason I shot her.”
The legal sufficiency review by the Attorney General’s office confirmed that there are currently no stays of execution in place. The Florida Supreme Court originally affirmed the conviction and death sentence on direct appeal in 2011. Although a postconviction court temporarily vacated the death sentence in 2017 based on state and federal court rulings regarding jury unanimity rules, the Florida Supreme Court reversed that order and reinstated Silvia’s death sentence in 2018. Subsequent appeals, including a federal motion dismissed in March 2024, have been denied, and executive clemency was deemed inappropriate.
DeSantis designated a one-week window from August 18 to August 25 for the sentence to be carried out, with Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk finalizing the specific execution time for the first day of that window.
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