Although Ms. Ayala’s critics have denounced her actions as dereliction of duty, they cannot point to a single law or statute that she has violated. That’s because she hasn’t. There are no federal or state laws that say prosecutors must seek death sentences. And the United States Supreme Court has banned all state laws that make executions mandatory for murders.

The governor‘s executive order also undercuts the will of the people who last fall elected Ms. Ayala to serve them. Moreover, a poll last year found that nearly two-thirds of Floridians prefer life imprisonment over the imposition of the death penalty. So do people who live in Central Florida, where her district is, 58 percent to 36 percent.

As a black man, I see the death penalty as a powerful symbol of injustice in which race often determines who lives and who dies, especially in Florida. The state has the second-largest number of death row inmates in the country, after California, and African-Americans are grossly overrepresented on Florida’s death row. This disproportionality was a driving force behind my bill. And while I felt that Florida was not ready to relinquish the death penalty, I tried to make it more fair.

Ms. Ayala’s arguments for rejecting the death penalty were compelling and well reasoned; they were drawn from the stark racial disparities in the criminal justice system that she confronts every day. Yet Ms. Ayala has always said that she would hold the guilty accountable, including, if he is convicted, the defendant in the first case from which she was removed, Markeith Loyd.

Understandably, the issue of how to punish people who kill police officers remains highly charged, especially among law enforcement officials. Many believe that the only proper resolution for the death of Lt. Debra Clayton, the Orlando police officer Mr. Loyd is accused of killing, is an eye for an eye. I get that.

But for others, including Stephanie Dixon-Daniels, the mother of Mr. Loyd’s slain ex-girlfriend, who has also experienced a devastating loss, Ms. Ayala’s sentencing choice made sense. The death penalty will continue “to drag us back in court and relive this violent, hideous act,” Ms. Dixon-Daniels said. Instead, she wants closure.