DeSantis Scores Another Crime Record-Breaker

Ron DeSantis speaking at a podium before a large audience

Florida plans to execute a 77-year-old man Tuesday for beating a Polk County woman to death with a hammer more than three decades ago.

Story Snapshot

Curtis Beasley, 77, faces lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1995 murder of Carolyn Monfort.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant on August 26, 2026, setting the execution for September 29, 2026.
The Florida Supreme Court denied Beasley’s final appeal and refused a stay on September 22, 2026.
This marks Florida’s 16th execution of 2026, part of a record-setting pace under DeSantis.

What Beasley Was Convicted Of

A jury convicted Curtis Beasley of first-degree murder, robbery, and grand theft auto for killing Carolyn Monfort in August 1995. Reports from multiple outlets, including the Associated Press and the Tampa Bay Times, describe the crime the same way: Beasley beat the Dundee, Florida woman to death with a hammer.

The case stayed in Florida’s courts for decades after the conviction. Beasley’s legal team pursued postconviction appeals for years, arguing issues tied to his sentence. Those efforts finally ran out this September when the state’s highest court closed the door on further review.

The Final Court Ruling And Warrant

The Florida Supreme Court issued its ruling in case SC2026-1399 on September 22, 2026. Justices affirmed the denial of postconviction relief and rejected Beasley’s request for a stay. The court’s mandate took effect right away, and the opinion stated no rehearing would be considered.

Governor DeSantis had already signed Beasley’s death warrant weeks earlier, on August 26. That signature locked in September 29 as the execution date.

Florida law gives the governor direct authority to schedule executions once appeals are exhausted, and DeSantis has used that power aggressively throughout his time in office.

A 77-year-old Florida man convicted of the hammer beating death of a woman is set to become the 16th person executed this year in the nation’s busiest death chamber.https://t.co/8XVg25HVc5

— ABC News (@ABC) September 29, 2026

Age And Cognitive Decline Arguments Rejected

Beasley’s attorneys raised his age and reported cognitive decline as part of their final challenges, framing the punishment as cruel and unusual.

Florida courts have consistently rejected similar arguments in other capital cases, citing long-standing precedent that age and health struggles alone don’t bar an execution. The court’s September ruling did not disturb that pattern.

Beasley’s case briefly drew attention to the U.S. Supreme Court as his legal team pursued emergency filings there. State courts had already closed off his appeals before that federal review played out, leaving the scheduled execution date intact heading into Tuesday.

Part Of Florida’s Record Execution Pace

Beasley’s case doesn’t stand alone. Florida has carried out far more executions than any other state in 2025 and 2026 combined, accounting for roughly 40 percent of executions nationwide last year alone. The state executed 19 people in 2025 and had already reached double digits well before Beasley’s scheduled date this year.

Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, is scheduled to be executed in Florida on Tuesday for the 1995 killing of Carolyn Monfort. Beasley was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto and sentenced to death in 1998.

Beasley is due to receive a three-drug lethal… pic.twitter.com/OBmJqAC14J

— India Today Global (@ITGGlobal) September 29, 2026

DeSantis signed 19 death warrants in 2025 and continued at a similar clip in 2026, a pace that has made Florida the clear national outlier as most other states slow down or halt executions altogether. Only Arizona, Oklahoma, and Texas have carried out any executions in 2026 outside Florida, and none close to Florida’s total.

That broader trend matters for how the public reads individual cases like Beasley’s. A single execution can get folded into a larger story about state policy rather than judged strictly on its own facts.

Florida’s structure gives the governor concentrated authority to move fast once courts sign off, which keeps that pace running case after case.

What Happens Tuesday

Barring any last-minute federal intervention, Beasley’s execution proceeds as scheduled at Florida State Prison in Starke.

The conviction, the sentence, and the exhausted appeals all point toward the same outcome the state has pursued since securing the original verdict three decades ago. Carolyn Monfort’s family has waited more than 30 years for that sentence to be carried out.