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A Florida man convicted of setting his neighbor on fire during a home burglary was executed Tuesday, amid a notable increase in death row executions in the state.
Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, was put to death at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Bradford County through a three-drug lethal injection protocol. This included a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a drug to stop the heart.
As the procedure began, a warden attempted to rouse Willacy without success. His skin turned gray, and medical staff soon confirmed his death at 6:15 p.m. Willacy became the fifth person executed in Florida this year.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Willacy woke early that morning and cooperated throughout the day. He received visits from family members but declined a meeting with a spiritual adviser prior to the execution.
Before the injection started, Willacy made a brief statement expressing remorse to his family and encouraging fellow inmates on death row. He maintained his innocence, insisting he would never have harmed his friend.
“To the victim’s family, I hope this brings you peace. If it does, that’s good,” Willacy said. “But this is not right.”
Willacy was sentenced to death in 1991 after being found guilty of the 1990 murder of his neighbor, Marlys Sather, in Palm Bay. Court records show Sather caught Willacy breaking into her home during her lunch break.
He assaulted her with a blunt object, bound her, attempted to strangle her, and ultimately doused her in gasoline and set her on fire. The autopsy confirmed she died from smoke inhalation while still alive.
Willacy also stole Sather’s vehicle and possessions and used her ATM card. Her body was discovered by her son-in-law after she failed to return to work. Following a complex legal process including a resentencing in 1995, Willacy’s death sentence was reaffirmed.
In recent weeks, Florida’s Supreme Court denied his final appeals, which challenged the state’s secrecy around execution procedures. His case remained under review by the U.S. Supreme Court until his execution.
Willacy’s execution is part of a sharp rise in capital punishments in Florida this year. Governor Ron DeSantis authorized 19 executions in 2025, the highest number since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976. This surge aims to address long delays faced by victims’ families.
Florida leads the nation in executions so far this year, with other southern states like Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas also seeing significant increases.
Another execution is scheduled in Florida later this month, with James Ernest Hitchcock set to receive a lethal injection for the 1992 killing of his 13-year-old niece.