Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cancels execution of 74-year-old man convicted in Miami-Dade murder

Key Points:

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has withdrawn the death warrant for William Lee Thompson, who was scheduled for execution Tuesday, without providing a stated reason amid reports of Thompson's severe health issues, including dementia and heart failure.
• Thompson's counsel and death penalty opponents highlighted his compromised mental state, with evaluations suggesting he may be insane and unable to comprehend his execution, prompting DeSantis to commission a psychiatric panel to assess his condition.
• Despite the Florida Supreme Court denying Thompson's motion for a stay hours before the warrant withdrawal, his legal team has filed a federal lawsuit seeking medical care for his conditions, amid growing scrutiny of death penalty protocols following recent botched executions in Tennessee.
• Thompson was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1976 murder and assault of a woman in a motel, with a complex legal history involving multiple plea changes, appeals, and resentencing over several decades.
• Co-defendant Rocco Surace, initially sentenced to death for the same crime, had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment after Thompson took responsibility, and died in prison in 1993.