DeSantis signs death warrant: killer in 1991 Tavernier double murder set for execution on November 19
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant on October 21 setting the execution of Thomas Overton, 70, for 6 p.m. on November 19, 2026, by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford. The Palm Beach Post reported the signing on October 22.
Overton was charged in 1997 with the 1991 murders in Tavernier, in the Florida Keys, of local teacher Susan "Missy" MacIvor, 29, who was eight months pregnant, and her husband Michael MacIvor, 30. He was sentenced to death in 1999 and also received two life sentences for sexual battery and burglary and 15 years for the death of the unborn child. Barring a stay or a successful appeal, his would be Florida's 20th execution this year: Jesse Guardado is scheduled to be executed first, on November 5, and Overton's execution would break the record of 19 set under DeSantis last year.
Earlier this month DeSantis withdrew a death warrant for William Thompson after three psychiatrists evaluated him for dementia and mental disability. Overton's warrant was signed a day after Florida executed William Reaves Jr., who killed an Indian River County sheriff's deputy in 1986. Court records show Overton met the victims while working at a Tavernier gas station; on the night of August 22, 1991, he broke into their home and killed both of them, and his DNA matched samples from the scene. His repeated appeals have been denied.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 佛罗里达礁岛 Tavernier 海岸。摄影：Yinan Chen，公共领域，来源：Wikimedia Commons
