Florida Executes Michael Zack III Despite Unconstitutional Death Penalty Statute

The state of Florida on Tuesday executed Michael Zack III, 54, for the murder of Ravonne Smith, a bar employee he befriended and later beat and stabbed with an oyster knife in June 1996. Zack was the sixth person to be executed in the state this year, and was sentenced to death decades ago by a non-unanimous jury under a death penalty statute that has since been found unconstitutional.

Zack’s nine-day crime run began in Tallahassee, the state capital, and ended with the murder of Smith. He was also convicted and separately sentenced to life in prison for murdering Laura Rosillo, whom he met at another Florida Panhandle bar.

Zack’s lawyers argued that he had an intellectual disability that made him ineligible for the death penalty. However, his death warrant was signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president on a tough-on-crime platform.

At 6:14 p.m. on Tuesday, Zack was pronounced dead following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. His execution was the first in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January that Florida’s death penalty statute was unconstitutional.

The execution of Michael Zack III is a reminder of the ongoing debate surrounding the death penalty in the United States. While some argue that it is a necessary form of punishment for the most heinous of crimes, others believe it is a cruel and unusual punishment that should be abolished.