Record 13th Florida execution this year carried out on man convicted of killing a couple

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STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of killing a married couple during a robbery in South Florida in 1990 was put to death Tuesday in a record 13th execution this year in the state.

Victor Tony Jones, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Jones' death extended Florida’s record for total executions in a single year, with the state planning to carry out two more executions next month.

The curtain to the viewing room open promptly at the scheduled 6:00 p.m. start of the procedure. Asked if he had any final statement, Jone said, “no, sir.” Then, just two minutes after the curtains opened, the drugs began flowing. His chest began to heave for a few minutes, then slowed and stopped completely.

The warden shook Jones and shouted his name several minutes into the injection, but there was no response. Jones' face lost color as he laid motionless, and a medic eventually entered the death chamber and declared him dead minutes later. Officials said the execution was carried out without complications.

Jones was a new employee at a Miami-Dade business owned by Matilda and Jacob Nestor in December 1990 when he stabbed the woman in the neck and her husband in the chest, court records show. Investigators determined that despite his wounds, Jacob Nestor managed to retreat to an office, unholster a .22 caliber pistol and fire five times, striking Jones once in the forehead.

Police said they found Jones wounded at the scene with the Nestors’ money and personal property in his pockets. Jones was hospitalized and later convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 1993 and sentenced to death. The jury also found him guilty of two counts of armed robbery.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, followed by Texas with five.

Jones filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month, based on intellectual disability and alleged abuse he suffered as a teen at a since shuttered state-run reform school. The court denied the claims, finding that the disability issue had already been litigated and that allegations of abuse were never presented during Jones' trial.

Hours before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.

With Tuesday’s execution, a total of 34 men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and at least eight other people are scheduled to be put to death during the rest of 2025.

Barring legal reprieves, two more executions loom next month under death warrants signed by the Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, is scheduled to become the 14th person executed in Florida on Oct. 14. He was convicted of killing two women whose bodies were found in a rural pond in 1996.

Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, is scheduled for the state's 15th execution on Oct. 28. He was convicted of raping and killing his neighbor, whose body was found by a fisherman near the Pensacola Bay Bridge in 1998.

Florida executions are carried out with three drugs: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.

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