A man convicted of k!lling his girlfriend, her mother and a man he claimed owed him $2,000 was put to de@th Thursday, August 28, in a record 11th execution this year by the state of Florida.
Curtis Windom, 59, d!ed by lethal injection at 6:17 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. He was convicted in the Nov. 7, 1992, k!llings of his girlfriend Valerie Davis, her mother Mary Lubin and Johnnie Lee, who he claimed owed him $2,000.
Windom’s face was covered by a sheet when the curtain was raised to the de@th chamber shortly before the injection was set to begin, The AP reported. When the drugs were administered, he began taking deep breaths and his legs twitched several times before he stopped moving.
Davis’ sister Kemene Hunter wore a T-shirt to a news conference following the execution that read, “Justice for her, healing for me.”
“All I want to say is, it took 33 years to get some closure,” Hunter said, adding that “vengeance is mine says the Lord.”
On the day of the three killings, a friend told Windom that Lee had won $114 at a greyhound racetrack, according to court records. Windom responded to the friend that “you’re gonna read about me” and that he planned to k!ll the man who owed him money
Windom went to a Walmart and purchased a .38-caliber revolver and a box of 50 shells, according to court testimony. A short time later, Windom drove in search of Lee and shot him twice in the back from his car before firing two more shots standing at close range.
After that killing, Windom went to Davis’ apartment and shot and k!lled her in front of a friend “with no provocation,” court records showed. Windom then shot and wounded another man before fatally shooting Davis’ mother in her car at a stop sign as she drove to her daughter’s apartment.
He was sentenced to de@th for the three murd£rs and given a 22-year sentence for the attempted murd£r.
Windom and his lawyers filed multiple appeals, arguing that he was represented by an incompetent lawyer when presenting evidence of mental health struggles.
Windom’s final appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
“Forgiveness and healing do not come from a lethal injection in the death chamber. They come from the families’ decades of conversations, visits, and phone calls with Curtis, where he demonstrated remorse and redemption,” Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a statement.
“They come from Curtis building new relationships with the people he has so deeply hurt. They come from showing a new generation of Windoms that there is a hope for a less violent future. His execution tonight stopped that healing in its tracks and replaced it with new pain.”
