Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant on Wednesday, October 21, for Thomas Mitchell Overton, scheduling his execution for 6 p.m. on November 19 at Florida State Prison, the News Service of Florida reported.

Source: News Service of Florida

Overton, 70, was convicted of the August 22, 1991 murders of Michael MacIvor, 30, and Susan “Missy” MacIvor, 29, who was eight months pregnant, at their home in Tavernier in the Florida Keys. The couple's unborn child did not survive. Overton was charged in 1997, and court records cited in USA TODAY Network reporting say DNA evidence linked him to the crime; he was sentenced to death in 1999 and also received life sentences for sexual battery and burglary.

Source: USA TODAY Network via Miramar News

The warrant was signed a day after Florida executed William Reaves. Another execution, of Jesse Guardado, is scheduled for November 5. If both proceed, Overton's execution would be Florida's 20th this year, the highest annual total since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the News Service of Florida and USA TODAY Network reporting.

The Florida Supreme Court has issued its standard scheduling order for warrant-related litigation, with circuit-court proceedings closing on November 4 and briefs due in the following days, according to warrant reporting. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which opposes the execution, says both Overton and Guardado are survivors of the Dozier School for Boys and has launched a petition asking the governor to stop the executions — a claim and campaign position attributed to that organisation.

Source: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty