Florida: Frank Walls executed – last execution in record year 2025 for the US state

On Thursday evening, 58-year-old Frank Athen Walls was executed by lethal injection by the US state of Florida. He had murdered a 21-year-old man and his 20-year-old girlfriend in 1987, received a life sentence for killing the man and a death sentence for killing the woman.

Walls later pleaded guilty to the murder of three other women – he had previously committed these crimes. He committed all five murders between the ages of 17 and 19. In its statement, the organization “Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty” (FADP) points out the problematic health and mental circumstances that led to the crimes:

“Frank suffered from a lack of oxygen at birth and had a high fever as an infant, which is why he had to be hospitalized several times. At the age of five, it was clear that he had mental deficits and brain damage. He did poorly at school, was unable to concentrate and had considerable problems controlling his impulses. As a teenager, he survived two separate bouts of meningitis, which exacerbated his early childhood brain damage.”

FADP goes on to explain how Walls evolved during his decades on death row, “He chose to spend his time on death row trying to put things right. He wasn’t just defined by his disability and his crimes. Frank spent all those years trying to find stability in the rhythm of life on death row. He embraced the teachings of the Catholic Church and shared those teachings with childlike enthusiasm with anyone who would listen.

Frank grew up on death row – literally and figuratively. And like many people with developmental disabilities, Frank flourished thanks to the structure, predictability and security that should have been his all along. Many of his neighbors on death row reported that Frank was gentle, vulnerable and worthy of protection – despite the severe suffering they knew he had caused.”

In his final words, Walls affirmed that he regretted his actions: “I am sorry for all the pain and suffering I caused over the years.”

It was the 19th execution in Florida this year – an absolute record for this US state and completely against the trend in the rest of the USA, where fewer and fewer death sentences are being handed down and approval of the death penalty is at an all-time low of just 52%. Experts suspect that Governor Ron DeSantis, who has one year left in office, wants to pave the next steps in his career by appearing “tough on crime” with his sudden frenzy of executions.

Sources:
https://eu.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2025/12/18/florida-execution-today-of-frank-walls-for-multiple-killings/87829913007/
https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-frank-athen-walls/