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Former Florida death row inmates to ask Donalds to pause executions

C. A. Bridges · 9 November 2026

Florida’s white-columned Historic Capitol with its red-and-white striped awnings and domed cupola, in front of the tall new State Capitol tower, framed by magnolia and palm trees under a blue sky.
Florida’s Historic Capitol and, behind it, the State Capitol tower in Tallahassee. Photo: Michael Rivera / CC BY-SA 3.0

A group of anti-death-penalty advocates will gather in Florida’s capitol on Thursday, Nov. 12, to call on Governor-elect Byron Donalds to pause executions in the state when he takes office. Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida has put 38 people to death since 2025, with more scheduled.

This particular group has a special insight on the matter: some of them have been on Florida’s death row themselves.

“When I hear about another execution, I think about how close I came to being one of those names,” said Herman Lindsey, Executive Director of Witness to Innocence, in an emailed release. Lindsey was convicted in 2006 for a 12-year-old murder without eyewitnesses, fingerprints, or anything to place him at the scene. He was exonerated for insufficient evidence in 2009.

“I was released, but I worry about who is still there and whether anyone is listening to them. That’s what I want the next governor to understand when we ask him to stop executions.”

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds won the governor’s race in the general election on Nov. 3, defeating Democrat David Jolly with 50.1% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

The event is organized by Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, an anti-death penalty network, and Witness to Innocence, an organization of former death row survivors. It comes a week after Florida’s last execution, of Jesse Guardado, and a week before the next, of Thomas Overton.

When, where is the anti-death-penalty conference in Tallahassee?

  • When: 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12
  • Where: Leroy Collins Leon County Public Library, 200 W Park Ave, Tallahassee, 1st floor, Meeting Room B

Three exonerated former Death Row inmates — Lindsey, Joaquín José Martínez, and Seth Penalever — will be telling their stories and asking the governor-elect to stop executions, examine the laws contributing to wrongful convictions, and commit to giving each case careful consideration. Together, they have spent a combined 26 years on Death Row for crimes they did not commit, the group said.

Read the full article at the Tallahassee Democrat.

Originally published by Tallahassee Democrat on 9 November 2026