Curtis Windom is scheduled to be executed in Florida on August 28, 2025 for the 1992 murders of Johnnie Lee, Valerie Davis and Mary Lubin.

Join the Virtual Sit In

Call Governor DeSantis at 850-717-9337 with the following message:

"Hi. My name is [your name]. I am calling to express my concern about the direction Florida is headed with regards to the death penalty. Florida has beat its own record and has now executed more individuals this year than in any previous year. True accountability does not require mirroring the violence you claim to want to stop and denies the power of redemption. Additionally, all 3 victim families involved in this case emphatically oppose this execution. It seems as though the state doesn't sincerely care about victims, it just wants to use them as pawns to advance their political careers."

REGISTER FOR THE 8/28 VIRTUAL VIGIL BEGINNING AT 5PM ET.

Information provided by our friends at Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has underscored Curtis Windom’s case as emblematic of Florida’s broken and reckless use of the death penalty. In a brief filed in support of Kayle, SLPC notes that, in Curtis’ case, “the surviving family members of those killed have repeatedly opposed his execution and asked the State not to carry it out.”

More troubling is how Curtis’ warrant was signed in the first place. Governor DeSantis’ decision to sign Curtis Windom’s death warrant was retaliatory, intended as political retribution against Kayle for exercising his constitutional protections, and meant to intimidate others on Florida’s death row from doing the same. The filing makes clear that DeSantis issued Windom’s warrant to refute Mr. Bates’ claims pointing out racial discrimination in the warrant selection process. This means that in Florida death warrants are wielded not just as instruments of punishment but also as political tools. As Kayle’s attorneys aptly stated, Governor DeSantis “is wearing his guilt on his shoulders.”

The tragedy of Curtis’ execution does not stop there. Curtis’ trial lawyer was not qualified to handle a capital case. He was disbarred and imprisoned after several drug and alcohol-related arrests. He had no business representing Curtis and his performance was shockingly inadequate.

Perhaps most troubling is that members from all three of the victims’ families (Johnnie Lee, Valerie Davis, and Mary Lubin) have long opposed his execution, and filed over a dozen letters in support of clemency for Curtis in 2013. His daughter, Curtisia, has long opposed her father’s execution, despite also being the daughter and granddaughter of two victims.

Read all of the letters. Their voices make clear what Florida’s death penalty ignores: executions deepen cycles of loss rather than heal them.

Also as part of the 2013 clemency effort, impacted family members submitted video testimony. Curtisia shares the pain of losing both her mother and grandmother at a young age, and the devastating loss she would endure again if the State executes her father. Jeremy Lee, son of Johnnie Lee, also appeared in the video. He makes clear that he and members of his family also disagree with Curtis’ death sentence and do not wish to see it carried out. Please watch and share this powerful video.

We believe in accountability, but true accountability does not require execution. A sentence of life without the possibility of parole protects society while also recognizing the human capacity for redemption and the role of childhood trauma in shaping adult behavior.

Florida does not need the death penalty to be safe. This execution will not make us safer, it will simply add another act of violence to an already tragic story. Justice does not require death. Florida's continued use of executions marks the state as an outlier in its use of the death penalty. The majority of other states are on a downward trend of executions.

Please sign the petition asking Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida State Board of Executive Clemency to do everything within their power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.