Florida schedules 20th execution of year as DeSantis signs death warrant for 1992 Keys murders
Courtesy: Florida Department of Corrections
STARKE, Fla. - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Wednesday for Thomas Mitchell Overton, setting his execution for Nov. 18 at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Florida death penalty execution
What we know:
DeSantis signed the warrant for Overton, 70, one day after the state executed William Reaves for killing an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy four decades ago. The execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Overton was arrested in 1997 for the August 1992 murders of Michael MacIvor, 30, and Missy MacIvor, 29, who was eight months pregnant. Overton had worked as a service-station clerk in Tavernier on Key Largo and knew the couple before breaking into their home.
Court records show Michael MacIvor was struck in the head, kicked and strangled. Missy MacIvor was bound, raped and strangled. Overton DNA matched bedding samples in 1996 and 1998 tests, leading to his 1999 death sentence, life sentences for sexual battery and burglary, and 15 years for the death of an unborn child.
A fellow inmate testified Overton admitted he broke in to rape Susan MacIvor and killed the couple to confuse the crime scene.
What we don't know:
Officials have not publicly stated whether Overton has any remaining legal appeals pending ahead of the scheduled Nov. 18 execution date.
State execution record milestone
By the numbers:
If carried out, Overton’s execution would be the state’s 20th this year. That would mark the highest total in a single year since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Before Overton’s scheduled date, Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled to be put to death Nov. 5 for the 2004 murder of 75-year-old Jackie Malone in Walton County.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from court records and sentencing orders, as well as official death warrants issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis.