Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025, surpassing Texas, Alabama and South Carolina combined, and more than doubling the state's previous record.
The unprecedented pace is drawing sharp reactions.
WATCH: Florida leads nation in executions
Billy Leon Kearse has been on Florida's death row for 35 years. He was convicted of murdering Fort Pierce Police Sergeant Danny Parrish in 1991, when Kearse was 18 years old.
Susan Kaspari, a friend of Kearse's, said she traveled to Florida after his death warrant was signed.
"Once his death warrant was signed, we were just really devastated by that. And so I returned to Florida last week and was able to spend two days with him," Kaspari said.
Kaspari described Kearse as a changed man.
"He's not the person that he was. You know, he's barely 18 when this crime occurred, and he, during that time, has developed a very deep faith." Kaspari said.
Cases like Kearse's take decades to resolve — and carry an enormous price tag for Florida taxpayers. Each execution costs an estimated $24 million.
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Defense attorney Daniel Eisenger said the expense reflects the complexity of the legal process.
"The litigation that goes on, the work that has to happen [in] a courtroom that's all very, very expensive," Eisenger said.
Grace Hanna, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, says the system repeatedly failed Kearse.
"This was a crime that could have been warded off through better social services, better access to education, better health care, better community resources in decades before," Hanna said.
Florida also leads the nation in death row exonerations. This means 30 people sentenced to death in Florida have since been cleared, found innocent and freed.
"That's an alarming number to me. Thirty is a lot. That's 30 innocent people who were either sentenced to be executed or sentenced to death who should not have been?" Eisenger said.
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There are growing concerns about how Florida is carrying out executions. Court filings allege the use of expired drugs, incorrect dosages and in at least one case, a drug injected into soft tissue instead of a vein.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that she was "deeply troubled" by the allegations.
Eisenger noted that Florida law offers no alternative for those convicted of first-degree murder.
"In Florida, life means life. There is no parole. There is no release for someone who's convicted and first-degree murder," Eisenger said.
Governor Ron DeSantis has said he is "doing his part to deliver justice to victims' families." In Kearse's case, Sergeant Parrish's widow has waited 35 years.
Two more executions are already scheduled this month.
