Florida: David Pittman executed – despite mental impairment and IQ of 70

On Wednesday evening, 63-year-old David Joseph Pittman was executed by lethal injection in the US state of Florida.

He was sentenced to death for stabbing his father-in-law (60), mother-in-law (50) and 20-year-old sister-in-law to death in May 1990 in anger over his wife filing for divorce and then setting fire to their home.

Critics of the death sentence pointed out that Pittman, with an IQ of 70, was mentally handicapped and affected by brain damage.

The organization “Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty” (FADP) explained in its statement that Pittman’s childhood had been marked by violence, neglect and hardship:

“A child who described his own mother as one who would not want a mother. She beat him mercilessly and told him and his siblings they were welcome to call Child Protective Services; that she might have to go to jail for a day or two, but if she was released, the children would be hospitalized.”

FADP also points out that the crime – as is so often the case – took place within a family. “For every family member who cheered David’s death tonight, there were others who tearfully paid him a final visit and now mourn the fact that the state of Florida killed someone they loved in their name.”

It was the twelfth execution of a death sentence in Florida this year. Governor Ron DeSantis currently signs a new execution order approximately every two weeks – two more executions are already scheduled in Florida.

Sources:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/david-pittman-killed-estranged-wifes-222843510.html
https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-david-pittman/