DeSantis signs death warrant — This is the man set to be executed

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed another death warrant, this time setting the execution of 64-year-old Jesse Guardado for November 5 at Florida State Prison.

Guardado was convicted in the 2004 murder of 75-year-old Jackie Malone in Walton County.

According to court records, Malone had previously helped Guardado find a place to live and a job after he was released from prison.

On September 13, 2004, Guardado went to Malone’s home at night and told her he needed to use the telephone. After she allowed him inside, prosecutors said Guardado attacked her, striking her in the head with a breaker bar, stabbing her in the chest and cutting her throat.

He then took several of her belongings, including her purse, jewelry box, briefcase and cellphone.

Guardado later pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to death in 2005. The Florida Supreme Court upheld his death sentence in 2007.

His attorneys later challenged the sentence, arguing in part that his legal representation during the penalty phase had been ineffective. A federal appeals court rejected that argument in 2024.

DeSantis said in the death warrant that executive clemency had been considered but determined not to be appropriate.

Guardado’s scheduled execution is also significant because Florida is approaching another record year for capital punishment.

If the executions currently scheduled by the state are carried out, Guardado would become the 20th person executed in Florida in 2026. Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025, which was already a modern-era state record.

Three other executions are scheduled before Guardado: James Robertson and William Lee Thompson are scheduled for October 13, while William Reaves is scheduled for October 20.

Guardado is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on November 5.