Dusty Ray Spencer, a 74-year-old Florida man who was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife, on Thursday became the oldest person executed in the state since it began modern record-keeping in 1924. Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10pm after being administered a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He received the death sentence for the 1992 killing of his wife, Karen, reports the AP.Asked if he had any last words, Spencer said, "Sorry, sorry to the family" and added, "I'm on my way, Lord." State officials said there were no complications with the execution.
According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the next-oldest state inmates to be executed were both 72—Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14 of last year, for the 1996 killings of two women, and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting death of state representative Charles Schuh Jr. Nationwide, the oldest person to be executed in modern times was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83, put to death in Alabama in 2018 for sending mail bombs during a wave of Southern terror, killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney. Spencer's execution was Florida's ninth to date this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Another 74-year-old Florida death row inmate, Dennis Sochor, who's 12 days younger than Spencer, is to be executed July 14. He was convicted of killing a woman just hours into 1982 after meeting her at a New Year's Eve party. Spencer was initially sentenced to death in 1992 after being convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and assault and battery. In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing after finding the trial court had mishandled evaluating certain circumstances. Spencer was resentenced to death the next year; subsequent appeals have been denied.
Last week, the state Supreme Court also rejected Spencer's appeals. His attorneys had argued that he had health issues such as liver disease that pose a heightened risk of pain and suffering, as well as that executing him at his advanced age would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. A total of 47 people were executed in the US in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas tied for second, with five executions each. All Florida executions are carried out by lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, per the DOC.
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