Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new death warrant Tuesday, setting another execution date in what has become a record-breaking year for capital punishment in the state.
According to The Associated Press, Frank Athen Walls, 58, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 18 at Florida State Prison.
If carried out, Walls would become the 19th Florida inmate executed in 2025 — more than any governor has overseen in a single year since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The previous annual record, set in 2014, was eight executions.
The warrant was signed just two days before the planned execution of Richard Barry Randolph. Another condemned inmate, Mark Allen Geralds, is set for execution on Dec. 9, continuing a rapid pace that has drawn national attention.
Walls’ path to death row stretches back nearly four decades. He was first convicted in 1988 on two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, burglary and theft after a violent home invasion in the Florida Panhandle.
The Florida Supreme Court later overturned that conviction, but a new jury again found him guilty in 1992 and reimposed the death sentence.
According to court records, Walls broke into the mobile home of Eglin Air Force Base airman Edward Alger and his girlfriend, Ann Peterson, in July 1987. He tied both victims up, but Alger managed to break free and fought back.
Walls responded by cutting Alger’s throat and shooting him in the head when the struggle continued. He then attacked Peterson and shot her as she tried to defend herself.
Walls was arrested the day after the bodies were discovered, after his roommate alerted police to his behavior. Investigators found items from the crime scene in the home, and Walls later confessed.
The case did not end there. After his conviction, DNA evidence linked Walls to the May 1987 rape and murder of Audrey Gygi. He pleaded no contest in that case, avoiding another trial and a potential death sentence.Â
Walls also admitted responsibility for the killings of Tommie Lou Whiddon in March 1985 and Cynthia Sue Condra in September 1986 as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Attorneys for Walls are expected to pursue appeals to both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court as the execution date approaches.
So far, 43 people have been executed in the U.S. in 2025, with Florida far outpacing every other state. The most recent execution occurred on Nov. 13, when the state put Bryan Frederick Jennings to death for the rape and murder of his neighbor.
