Samuel Lee Smithers

Florida sets execution date for man who raped and murdered 6-year-old girl in 1979

truenewj8 months ago02 mins

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of raping and killing a 6-year-old girl in central Florida will be executed in November under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continues to set a record pace of executions. Bryan Fredrick Jennings, 66, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Nov. 13…

Five executions in eight days. Why the death penalty is increasingly used

truenewj8 months ago05 mins

Thirty-four men have been executed by court order in the United States this year, and eight more are scheduled before it closes, five of whom will die in the next eight days. This year’s total already far exceeds the 25 executions carried out last year. It could mark the highest figure since 2012, when 43…