FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida has executed 13 inmates so far this year, the most in the nation, and the state is on pace to nearly double its previous annual record by the end of 2025.

Two more executions are scheduled before the year is over, which would bring the total to 15.

For Herman Lindsey, the numbers carry a personal weight.

Lindsey spent years on Florida’s death row after being wrongfully convicted in 2006 of the 1994 killing of a Fort Lauderdale pawn shop owner.

His conviction was overturned in 2009, when the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled the evidence against him was insufficient.

“Death is not a punishment,” Lindsey said. “It is highly, highly possible that you may kill an innocent person.”

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 30 people in Florida have been exonerated after being sentenced to death since 1973 — more than any other state.

Florida’s most recent execution came this week, when Victor Jones was put to death after spending more than 30 years on death row for killing a married couple near Wynwood in 1990.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has signed the death warrants, has defended the state’s record pace.

“I think there are some crimes that are just so horrific the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty,” he said.

DeSantis has also said executions can give families of victims a sense of justice.

“This can’t bring their loved ones back, but I think what it can do is provide some closure,” he added.

Florida’s use of the death penalty has been shaped by recent changes in state law.

In 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a jury’s recommendation for the death penalty must be unanimous.

But after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, DeSantis signed legislation lowering that threshold. Now, only eight of 12 jurors need to agree for someone to be sentenced to death.

The states tied for second place have carried out just four each.

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