ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is scheduled to execute 77-year-old U.S. Army veteran Curtis Wilkie Beasley Sr. at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison in Raiford.
Beasley was convicted in the 1995 murder of Carolyn Monfort in Polk County.
If carried out, the execution would be Florida’s 16th of 2026, after the state conducted 19 executions in 2025.
Beasley’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution, raising four constitutional challenges that the Florida Supreme Court previously rejected.
They argue Gov. Ron DeSantis’ death-warrant selection process is unconstitutional because the governor can choose which death-row prisoners face execution without publicly explaining why. Attorneys questioned why Beasley was selected while others have spent decades on death row without warrants being signed.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected that argument, citing the governor’s broad discretion.
Defense lawyers also challenged the timeline for Beasley’s execution. DeSantis signed the death warrant Aug. 26, giving attorneys just over a month to investigate claims related to his case and health, according to the appeal.
Beasley’s legal team, which works for a small private registry firm rather than a state- or federally funded capital-defense agency, argued the timeline did not allow enough time to prepare. The state Supreme Court rejected that claim.
Attorneys also contend Beasley’s age and declining health make his execution cruel and unusual punishment. They said he uses a wheelchair except for very short distances and experiences depression, brain fog and risk factors for vascular dementia.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected the claim, ruling that the state Constitution’s Conformity Clause prevents Florida courts from recognizing age-based execution protections that have not been established by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Beasley’s lawyers also challenged his death sentence because jurors recommended death by a 10-2 vote. Florida is one of only two states that allow death sentences without a unanimous jury recommendation.
“Twelve people heard this case and they did not agree on death,” said Grace Hanna, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “In nearly every other state, Mr. Beasley would be serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole right now.”
Hanna said Florida is on pace to break its execution record and criticized the governor for not publicly explaining why specific death-row inmates are selected for execution.
“Monfort’s murder was a terrible loss,” Hanna said. “Thirty-one years later, the State is demanding another death without showing what it will accomplish.”
Opponents of Beasley’s execution plan demonstrated across Florida on Tuesday.
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty plans to hold a peaceful vigil outside Florida State Prison beginning at 5 p.m. Other vigils are planned in Pinellas County, the Jacksonville area, North Port, Pensacola and Tallahassee.
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