Florida's Death Row By the Numbers

TAMPA, FL — With no final words to share, convicted serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin died by lethal injection Thursday at 10:16 p.m.

His execution was the first scheduled in Florida for 2016 and the 92nd carried out in the state since 1979, state records indicate. Bolin, convicted in the murders of three Tampa Bay area women in 1986, reached out for a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but a denial came down from the nation’s highest court around 10 p.m., four hours after the execution was originally scheduled.

Bolin was just one of hundreds of prisoners on Florida’s Death Row, which actually has three locations. Men are housed at either Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution, both in Raiford. Women on Death Row are confined to Lowell Annex in Lowell, the Florida Department of Corrections website explains.

Death Row prisoners follow a strict schedule with meals served at 5 and 10 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. Food is taken to Death Row inmates directly. While a last meal on execution day is provided, the cost to prepare that meal must not exceed $40 and ingredients must be available locally, the state notes.

Bolin reportedly ate a medium-rare ribeye steak, a baked potato, salad, garlic bread and a slice of lemon meringue pie before his execution was carried out.

See Also:

• Oscar Ray Bolin Dies By Lethal Injection
• Florida Death Row Inmate Requests Electric Chair

The state’s current Death Row Roster, updated following Bolin’s execution, has 391 names on it. The breakdown of Death Row prisoners is as follows:

• White males – 223
• Black males – 151
• Males of other ethnicities – 12
• White females – 1
• Black females – 2
• Females of other ethnicities – 2

The oldest inmate ever executed in Florida was Charlie Grifford, 72. His sentence was carried out on Feb. 21, 1951. The youngest inmates executed were both 16. Willie Clay was executed on Dec. 29, 1941. James Davis was executed on Oct. 9, 1944. The first woman to die in Florida’s electric chair was Judias “Judy” Buenoano. Her sentence was carried out on March 30, 1998.

The state of Florida has used lethal injection since 2000. The electric chair, though available, is seldom used. A convicted killer from Plant City, Wayne Doty, has requested his sentence be carried out by electric chair. He was convicted for killing an inmate while serving a life sentence in another first degree murder case. Doty pleaded guilty to the second offense, representing himself in court.

The next execution scheduled in Florida is for Cary Michael Lambrix. He is scheduled to die on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

A private citizen is hired by the state to carry out each execution. The person, who is allowed to remain anonymous, is paid $150.

To learn more about executions in Florida, visit the Florida Department of Corrections online.

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