Governor signs death warrant; Pittman set for Sept. 17 execution

David Pittman, a 63-year-old Florida man convicted in a 1990 triple homicide, is scheduled for execution on September 17 after Governor Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant. Pittman was found guilty in 1991 of three counts of first-degree murder, along with arson and grand theft, for the killing of his estranged wife’s parents and their daughter in Polk County and the arson that followed. Court records indicate he stabbed Clarence and Barbara Knowles and their daughter Bonnie, then set their home ablaze and burned Bonnies’ car. A witness saw him flee the burning vehicle, and a jailhouse informant testified that Pittman admitted the killings. If carried out, Pittman would extend Florida’s record pace of executions this year.

The death warrant, signed on Friday, designates Sept. 17 as Pittman’s execution date to be carried out by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. Florida has already executed nine people this year, the most of any state, with two additional inmates—Kayle Bates and Curtis Windom—scheduled for execution later this month. The state’s current year total of death sentences and executions has set a record pace, surpassing the prior annual high of eight...