Darryl Barwick Executed 5/3/2023
Last night, Florida completed its third execution of 2023 with the execution of Darryl Barwick.
Last night, the State of Florida executed Darryl Barwick for crimes he committed in 1986. It was the state’s third execution of 2023. The original post with the background of Barwick’s case can be found here.
It was the third execution this year. As of right now, no more executions are scheduled in the state.
As of yesterday morning, Barwick had two petitions for writ of certiorari pending at the U.S. Supreme Court. The briefing was completed on the second-filed petition around 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night. The Court issued two orders denying both of Barwick’s petitions around noon yesterday—just 6 hours ahead of the scheduled execution.
DOC Briefings
The Department of Corrections generally does two press conferences on the day of an execution—one at 3:30 and one immediately following the execution. Here’s the briefing schedule announced for Barwick’s execution:
Neither of the briefings were livestreamed. For Gaskin’s execution, they were.
Information About the Execution
According to reporter Mollye Barrows, who was reporting from Florida State Prison, Barwick woke up at 4:15 a.m. and had his last meal at 9:15 a.m. His last meal was fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas and rice, cornbread, and a Coke. He had ice cream for dessert.
As of the 3:30 briefing, Barwick had spoken to family on the phone and was said to be "calm and in good spirits.” (Here’s Mollye’s article on the execution.)
There were no victim's witnesses at the execution. There were 17 official witnesses and 4 media witnesses. It is unclear who the official witnesses were.
NOTE: News articles say that there were no witnesses from Barwick’s family and friends. While this is true, it is a bit misleading. Florida does not allow the condemned to have witnesses at the execution, other than a legal witness.
Barwick was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. The lethal injection began at 6:02 p.m. As to the effects of the injection, Mollye reported:
[Barwick’s] eyes remained open throughout the procedure. Barwick breathed heavily for several minutes with his chest visibly moving up and down and his left arm twitching shortly after the process began. At 6:06, staff attempted to speak with Barwick, who did not respond but his eyes remained open.
Barwick’s last words were remorseful and commented on Florida’s punishment regime:
It’s time to apologize to the victim’s family, to my family. I can’t explain why I did what I did. And another thing I would like to say, the state of Florida needs to show some kind of compassion and kindness for each other with so many kids in prison, there are 14- and 15-year-olds serving life sentences.
Letter from Barwick
We have received a copy of an excerpt of a letter Darryl Barwick wrote while he was on death watch. It is being shared with permission of the recipient (who wishes to remain anonymous) and Barwick (before the execution).
Our thoughts are with everyone who was involved in the execution process.
This is so sad! I have done nothing but sob. I signed a petition to try and save him; even passed it around to people I know. I sent a letter to DeSantis and I even called his office. I had to leave a message for a callback. Well, they called back... At 8:00 this morning! Too little, too late. Ron DeSantis clearly doesn't care about his people, and whether he likes it or not, individuals on death row are his people, too. Ron DeSantis does NOT have my vote for the presidential election, and I know I'm not the only one who will not be voting for him.