Death Row Pastor Asks Byron Donalds for Six-Month Execution Pause as Florida Matches Its Record Pace

A minister who counsels condemned inmates is asking Gov.-elect Byron Donalds to stop Florida's executions for the first six months of his term, from his Jan. 5 inauguration through July 5, while an independent commission reviews a system that has put more people to death over the past two years than any other state. The husband of a woman whose killer was executed this year says families like his have already waited long enough.

The Rev. Jeff Hood made the request Wednesday, Nov. 11, in a remote news conference. He is a spiritual adviser to two men scheduled to be executed in Florida within the next month, according to the Florida Phoenix, and has witnessed 14 executions across five states, WFLA reported.

What Hood is asking for

Hood wants Donalds to stop signing death warrants for six months and to create an independent commission to examine whether Florida's process is reliable and fair, whether it gives courts and defense attorneys enough time to prepare, and what it costs, both financially and in the toll on victims' families, prison workers and others involved.

"We're asking for this to be a moment in which the state takes the opportunity to investigate what 40 executions in multiple years has cost," Hood said, according to the Phoenix. "We should be knowledgeable about how much these executions are costing."

Hood personally opposes the death penalty, but he told WFLA that the request is not an attempt to abolish it. He told the Phoenix his ask stops short of a full halt because "we are trying to meet him where he is." He has sent a separate letter to Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, asking her to stop all executions there.

If Donalds does not pause executions, Hood said, he should sign a proclamation shortly after taking office pledging to attend every execution for which he signs a warrant. "That will make it a lot more believable that he believes in execution," Hood said. In August, he had asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to personally view the execution of William Silvia; DeSantis has not attended an execution while in office, according to the Phoenix.

A record pace under DeSantis

Before 2025, Florida had never executed more than eight people in a single year. It carried out 19 executions in 2025, a record since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, and it has executed 19 people again in 2026, according to the Florida Phoenix. DeSantis has signed death warrants for three more executions before the end of the year. If all of them proceed, the state will reach 22 executions this year by Dec. 10, WFLA reported.

The three executions now scheduled, as listed by the Phoenix:

DeSantis has not used his power to halt executions often. In October he withdrew a death warrant for the first time since taking office, calling off the scheduled execution of 74-year-old William Lee Thompson after earlier staying it pending a psychiatric evaluation, according to The Associated Press. Thompson remains on death row.

A victim's husband pushes back

Nathan Lee, whose wife, Denise Amber Lee, was abducted and murdered in 2008, told WFLA he disagrees with Hood's proposal. Her killer, Michael King, was executed earlier this year, nearly 18 years after her death.

"I think it was just this giant sense of relief," Lee said of the execution. "I don't want to say closure. You know, closure is kind of would only be possible if Denise was able to come back and be with us."

Lee said families have already endured years of appeals and uncertainty, and he disputed the suggestion that they need more time once an execution date is set. "I thought 30 days was too long to sit there and wait," he said. "Once we were told he was going to be executed, the fact that we had to wait 30 days was probably the longest 30 days of my life."

Lee told WFLA he believes King had years to pursue appeals and that victims' families should have a significant voice in any decision to suspend executions. He said he hopes Donalds considers the perspectives of families who have waited decades for their loved ones' killers to be executed.

Where Donalds stands

Donalds, a Republican, has already come out in firm support of the death penalty, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Earlier this year he told the Miami Herald and the Times, "This is not California," adding, "Chaos will not run our streets, and criminals will not run our communities. In Florida, we don't play that game. Harm a Floridian, and you will face the consequences."

Hood seized on the California reference, noting that the state has not carried out an execution in 20 years. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he was commuting the death sentences of all 548 people on that state's death row, the Phoenix reported.

WFLA said it reached out to Donalds' campaign for comment on the proposed moratorium; no response was included in its report.

Exonerees add their voices

Hood's request is part of a broader push aimed at the incoming governor. A group of Florida death row exonerees and criminal justice advocates planned to gather in Tallahassee on Thursday, Nov. 12, to urge Donalds to suspend executions, review state laws they believe contribute to wrongful convictions, and ensure every capital case gets thorough scrutiny, WFTV reported.

Florida has exonerated more death row inmates than any other state since 1976; organizers say 30 men have been released from the state's death row. "I hope the next governor will think about us when he's told that a case is certain and there's no reason to pause executions," said Joaquín José Martínez, one of the exonerees scheduled to speak.

What's next

The next scheduled execution is Overton's on Nov. 19. Gonzalez and Crain are set to follow on Dec. 1 and Dec. 10, all under warrants signed by DeSantis. Any decision on a pause would fall to Donalds after he is sworn in on Jan. 5, since in Florida it is the governor who signs the death warrants that set execution dates.