A Florida man who set his neighbor on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarizing her home was executed Tuesday evening.

Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. It was Florida's fifth execution this year.

The curtain to the execution chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6:00 p.m. time, and the lethal injection got underway 2 minutes later, after Willacy made a brief statement.

He apologized to his own family and friends and urged his " brothers on the row" to stay strong. He maintained his innocence, saying that he would never kill his friend.

"To the victim's family, I hope this brings you peace. If it does, that's good, " Willacy said. "But this is not right."

Shortly after the lethal injection began, a warden shook Willacy and shouted his name, but there was no response. His skin began to turn gray, and a medic eventually entered the chamber to examine Willacy, declaring him dead.

Court records indicate Sather had returned to her Palm Bay home for her lunch break in September 1990 and found Willacy burglarizing her home. He struck her in the head with a blunt object, fracturing her skull, and then bound her hands and ankles with wire and tape, according to investigators.

Autopsy determined victim was alive when she was set on fire

Willacy attempted to strangle Sather with a telephone cord, and when that didn't work, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, records show. An autopsy determined that Sather had died from smoke inhalation, indicating she was still alive when she was set ablaze.

Willacy also stole Sather's car and other items from her home, and used the woman's ATM card to steal cash, officials said. When Sather failed to return from her break, her employer caller her family. Her son-in-law went to check on her and found her body.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing in 1994 because the trial judge failed to allow defense attorneys a chance to rehabilitate a potential juror who indicated she could not recommend the death penalty. Willacy was resentenced to death in 1995 with an 11-1 recommendation by a new jury.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw record 19 executions in 2025

This would be Florida's fifth execution in 2026 following a record 19 executions in the state last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.

The Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Willacy last Wednesday. He had made claims based on the state's refusal to grant public records requests about executions and lethal injection.

Willacy's final appeals were pending before the U.S. Supreme Court as the execution date loomed.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a long line of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.

Another execution to be held in Florida at end of April

Another execution has been scheduled in Florida for later this month. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, is scheduled to received a lethal injection on April 30. He was convicted of beating and choking his 13-year-old niece to death.

All Florida executions are by lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.