The suspect in a car-ramming attack on a German Christmas market is charged with murder
Five women and a boy died, and many more people were wounded, in the Dec. 20 attack that lasted just over a minute.
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Grieving husband who waited 43 years witnesses execution of wife's killer
Forty-three years after Randy White's wife was murdered just minutes after he kissed her goodbye for the last time, he has witnessed the execution of her killer. Kayle Barrington Bates, 67, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, Aug. 19, for the 1982 murder of Janet Renee White, the youngest of five tightknit siblings and a beloved wife who dreamed of having children and running her own business. Bates was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. ET. His execution is a record 10th this year in Florida, which is putting more inmates to death than any other state. It's also the 29th execution in the U.S. this year so far, a 10-year high. The execution represents long-awaited justice for Randy White, Renee's grief-stricken husband who told USA TODAY that 43 years after the murder is far too long for the death sentence to be carried out. "It's overdue," he said, adding that he was worried about either Bates or dying before the execution finally happened. "You've got to find a shorter route than 43 years ... There's got to be a better system that will see all these appeals through quicker." Veterans groups had been asking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed Bates' death warrant in July, to reconsider spare Bates because of his military service. He was in the Florida National Guard for six years and is now the fourth veteran executed in the state this year. 'We can never be a veteran friendly state when our leader is signing off on their deaths at the hands of the State," according to a letter signed by 130 veterans and sent to DeSantis. "We urge you now to lead from a place of bravery, to return to the honor code from your service, and to stop setting the executions of our fellow soldiers.' DeSantis has said he's signing death warrants for the worst of the worst and that he wants to bring closure to victim families. Sierra Dean, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, told USA TODAY on Tuesday that Bates was "being executed after receiving the death penalty for murder, sexual battery, kidnapping, and robbery. His sentence has nothing to do with his status as a veteran." Here's what you need to know about the execution. Death penalty in Florida: DeSantis speeds up pace of executions as veterans plead for mercy What was Kayle Barrington Bates convicted of? On Monday, June 14, 1982, Randy and Renee White were back at their workplaces after a romantic weekend trip. At lunchtime, they met back at their Lynn Haven home, where she watched her favorite soap opera and he made her a sandwich. When it was time to return to work, Randy wanted to make sure Renee got back safely to the State Farm insurance office where she worked, so he followed her in his car and watched her walk in. But a man had broken into the back of the office and was waiting for her. As Renee walked in, the phone was ringing. She answered and was about to say "Hello" when Kyle Barrington Bates popped out, according to court records. Renee let out a "bone-chilling scream," and Bates cut the phone cord, court records say. The woman who had been calling the office immediately called police. "Bates attacked her, but Renee fought back," according to court records. "Despite her best efforts, Bates overpowered Renee and forced her into the woods behind the office." Bates "brutally beat" Renee, strangled her, stabbed her twice in the chest, and "attempted to rape her," according to court records, though Randy disagrees with the terminology regarding the sexual assault. Bates admitted to "engaging in one-sided sexual conduct" with Renee and "both his and Renee's underwear contained evidence of semen," court records say. Within about 15 minutes of waving goodbye to Renee, Randy got a call that there was an emergency at her office. Soon after, a sheriff's chaplain broke the news. "He looked at me and said, 'Mr. White, I don't know any easy way to say this ... but your wife's been murdered,'" Randy remembered. "I completely lost it." Police arrived within minutes of the attack and said they found Bates covered in blood, with Renee's wedding ring in his pocket. Bates was convicted of murder and and sentenced to death. Randy and Renee: They married 10 weeks after meeting. A killer ended their love story. More about Kayle Barrington Bates Bates, who was a married father of a 3-year-old girl at the time of the murder, always maintained that he didn't kill Renee and fought unsuccessfully to get DNA evidence in the case tested since that wasn't yet available in 1982. James Driscoll Jr., one of Bates' attorneys, described him as "a man of faith" who has been relying on his religion. He said that Bates turned to Islam in prison around 1993, became "dedicated to studying the Quran," was "a mentor and calming presence for some of the younger guys" on death row, and reconnected with his daughter, who is now in her 40s. "The man has exhibited a quiet dignity throughout all of these proceedings that is inspirational," Driscoll told USA TODAY just after visiting with Bates for the last time on Monday. "Regardless of what happens, Mr. Bates is at peace." Driscoll and the rest of Bates' legal team filed numerous last-minute appeals in an effort to spare his life, arguing in part that the execution is unconstitutional because of organic brain damage, trial errors and bad trial attorneys. "If the state of Florida takes Mr. Bates life, it will be a tragic miscarriage of justice," Driscoll said the day before the execution. Bates' attorneys had hoped the U.S. Supreme Court would intervene but the justices declined. That includes claims from Bates' attorneys that Florida tends to conduct more executions for crimes in which the victim was white and has shown "a bias toward executing Black individuals." In response, the Florida Attorney General's Office said that of 21 execution warrants signed by DeSantis while in office, 19% have been for Black inmates and 26% of the victims involved were non-white. "These statistics totally rebut any claim of racial discrimination in the Governor's warrant selections," prosecutors wrote. Long-grieving husband among execution's witnesses Renee's husband of eight years, Randy White, was among the execution's witnesses. In a two-hour interview last week, he told USA TODAY how the couple met in a pizza parlor as teenagers and married 10 weeks later. "She walks in the door, and I mean the second she walked in, I can still remember what I said. 'Who the heck is that young lady?'" Randy recalled. "She was absolutely gorgeous." Later, Randy learned that when Renee got home the night they met, she told her mother: "I have met the man of my dreams." "We were completely crazy about each other," Randy said. "Like flipped upside-down crazy." Eight years after the wedding, the Whites were living like they were still on their honeymoon, traveling often and spontaneously. In 1982, when he was 27 and she was 24, they decided it was time to have a baby, Randy said. "She wanted children really, really bad." A month later she was murdered. And though Randy remarried and has been with his second wife for over three decades, he never became a father. "After she was killed, that part of me went away," he said. "It destroyed me." Randy said he wasn't witnessing the execution out of revenge, but simply for justice for Renee. Only two of Renee's four siblings are still living to see the day, he said. "There's been so many deaths in her family, and I thought I would pass and never see justice," he said. "It's going to be different to start life new again without this in the forefront ... But I'll never get past it. I will fight that until my last breath." When is the next execution? The next execution in the U.S. will also be in Florida. On Aug. 28, the state is set to execute Curtis Windom by lethal injection for the 1992 murders of his girlfriend, her mother and his best friend. The state has another execution planned on Sept. 17, that of David Joseph Pittman for the 1990 triple murder of his estranged wife's parents and sister. If they move forward, those will mark the 11th and 12th executions in Florida so far this year. Previously, the most executions the state carried out in a single year was eight, in both 1984 and 2014. Beyond Florida, eight other executions are scheduled in other states in the U.S. by the end of the year, putting the country on pace to see at least 39 inmates put to death in 2025. That's more than any other year since 2013 and would be a 56% increase over the 25 executions conducted last year. Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at and follow her on X at @AmandaLeeUSAT This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida widower who waited 43 years witnesses killer's execution
