On Tuesday evening, the state of Florida carried out its seventh execution of 2025. Death penalty opponents are raising concerns about the rate of executions happening in the state.
Thomas Gudinas was executed Tuesday for the 1994 murder of Michelle McGrath, who had been walking alone to her car in Orlando.
As he died at Florida State Prison, a group called Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty stood outside the Governor’s Mansion, praying for both the victim and the killer.
Bishop Emeritus Felipe J. Estevez of St Augustine, a death penalty opponent, agrees with their stance. He says the Catholic Church is committed to abolishing the death penalty worldwide -- regardless of the crime.
“That criminal, even though -- that human individual, that human person -- has committed a crime, he keeps his human dignity, which as Pope Francis says, is inviolable," said Estevez. "It’s inherent with the person. Nothing you could do could take that -- you are a creature of God.”
He says it’s not unusual to find that a person who committed a violent crime had been abused as a child.
“Their stories are quite similar, almost the same thing -- abuse, violence that marks them forever," said Estevez. "As the poet says, the child is the father of the man. And what they experienced in their childhood has huge implications for their future.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he supports the death penalty and that some crimes are so horrific that the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty.
He’s already signed the death warrant for an eighth execution, putting him on track to beat the record for the most warrants signed in one year since 1976.
