77-year-old Florida man convicted of killing woman with hammer becomes state's 16th execution of 2026

A 77-year-old Florida man was put to death Tuesday for his conviction in a deadly hammer attack on a woman decades ago, becoming the 16th person executed to date this year in the nation's busiest death chamber.

Curtis Wilkie Beasley was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, authorities said. He was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto in the 1995 hammer attack on Carolyn Monfort at her home south of Orlando.

The curtain to the death chamber went up at 6 p.m., and Beasley was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm. A spiritual adviser was seated at Beasley's feet and remained there throughout the execution.

When a team warden asked if he wished to make a final statement, Beasley said, "I want to apologize for all the mistakes I made."

The execution began immediately after that. Beasley began to breathe heavily as the three-drug cocktail began flowing. The heavy breathing eventually subsided, and the warden checked Beasley's eyes and shouted his name, but there was no response.

A medic was called into the death chamber at 6:11 p.m. and declared Beasley dead soon after.

The Florida Supreme Court recently rejected arguments that executing a man his age who's suffering from cognitive decline would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene Tuesday. Beasley is Florida's seventh prisoner over 70 to be executed this year.

Beasley was also the 29th person, all men, who have been executed around the U.S. this year. On Wednesday, Tennessee plans to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years by giving a lethal injection to Christa Pike, 50, for killing a classmate in a jealous rage when both were teens.

What led to Curtis Beasley's murder conviction and death sentence

According to court records, Beasley had been staying at Monfort's Dundee home, south of Orlando, in August 1995 while he was pressure washing and painting nearby apartments owned by her son-in-law. Monfort's daughter went to her home after being unable to reach her for two days and found her body in a blood-splattered laundry room.

Monfort suffered multiple blunt-force trauma injuries to the head, and a bloody hammer head was found wrapped in a towel nearby, according to investigators.

Authorities began searching for Beasley after a witness reported seeing him driving what turned out to be Monfort's car. Investigators determined Beasley had traveled to Miami and later relocated to Alabama, where he was arrested while working under a fake name for an electrical company, officials said.

Beasley was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1998.

A final appeal remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Florida executions near another record under Gov. Ron DeSantis

Beasley would be the nation's 29th execution this year, most of which have taken place in Florida.

The state is getting closer to last year's 19 executions, which was a record in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Two more are scheduled for this year, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has temporarily paused the next one.

William Lee Thompson, 74, is scheduled to be executed Oct. 13 for raping and fatally beating a woman at a Florida motel in 1976. After a doctor this month determined Thompson might be suffering from dementia, DeSantis ordered a panel of three psychiatrists to examine him Thursday to determine if he is competent to be executed.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, issued similar stays in 2023 and 2025 but both executions proceeded following evaluations.

William Reaves, 77, has an Oct. 20 execution date. He was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy outside a convenience store in 1986.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.