A 74-year-old man who has spent decades on Florida’s death row is challenging his upcoming execution, with his attorneys arguing that dementia and significant cognitive decline have left him unable to understand why he is being put to death.
William Thompson is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 13 for the 1976 murder, kidnapping, and rape of 23-year-old Sally Ivester in North Miami Beach. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Thompson’s latest death warrant earlier this month.
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According to NBC6 files, Thompson and his co-defendant, Rocco Surace, were convicted of beating and torturing Ivester inside a motel room after she was unable to obtain money from her mother.
Surace, who was also convicted in the case, later died in prison.
More than 50 years later, Thompson's attorneys are now raising questions about whether he is mentally competent to be executed. They say he has dementia and has experienced significant cognitive decline, arguing that he lacks the capacity to understand the reason for his death sentence.
"In Florida to be executed you have to recognize that you are being executed for a crime the state says you committed and at least according to his attorneys and what they have said in court he does not currently meet that standard," explained Grace Hanna, executive director with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
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After the competency challenge was raised, DeSantis issued a temporary stay of the execution in an executive order while also appointing a three-doctor commission to evaluate Thompson. The doctors are scheduled to examine him Oct. 1 and submit their findings to the governor the following day.
"In the event that, after receiving the report, I decide that WILLIAM LEE THOMPSON has the mental capacity to understand the nature of the death penalty and the reasons why it is to be imposed upon him, the execution of the sentence imposed upon WILLIAM LEE THOMPSON will occur on October 13, 2026 at 6:00 p.m." read the governors executive order.
Meanwhile, Thompson's defense attorneys have also pursued separate legal action concerning his medical condition in a Miami-Dade courtroom, hoping a judge intervenes in the execution.
His attorneys argued Tuesday that Thompson is seriously ill and needs additional medical care.
For now, Thompson remains scheduled for execution on Oct. 13, but the competency evaluation could determine whether the execution moves forward as planned.