TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida is set to kill a man on death row Thursday, February 13th, in the state’s first execution of 2025.
Convicted murderer James Ford is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection after a unanimously-rejected appeal to the Florida Supreme Court Friday.
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The punishment is for the 1997 murders of Greg and Kimberly Malnory at a Charlotte County sod farm, where Ford also worked.
Friday’s opinion said Greg Malnory was shot in the head, beaten and had his throat slit, while Kimberly Malnory was raped, beaten and shot. The couple also had a 22-month-old daughter, who was left in a car seat in their pickup truck for more than 18 hours after the murders, the opinion said.
Ford’s lawyers had argued to the court that Ford had developmental issues that put his mental age at the time of the murders around 14-years-old, an argument the court called “untimely and meritless.” He had been 36.
Governor Ron Desantis signed off on Ford’s death warrant on January 10th.
Several advocate groups have come out against the execution, as well as the death penalty altogether.
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said Friday that it has asked DeSantis to grant a stay of execution and commute Ford’s sentence to life in prison.
In a letter last month to DeSantis, Michael Sheedy, executive director of the conference, said that life in prison “is still a severe punishment which also serves to protect society from further danger from Mr. Ford.”
In protest, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) will be holding a public vigil and gathering at 5 p.m. across the highway from the Florida State prison.
The execution is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Read: Patrick McDowell, man who killed Nassau deputy Joshua Moyers in 2021, sentenced to death by judge
HISTORY OF EXECUTIONS IN FLORIDA
In 2024, only one person was executed by the state.
Loran Cole was killed by lethal injection in August for the 1994 killing of an 18-year-old FSU student in the Ocala National Forest. Cole also was serving two life sentences for rape.
In 2023, Governor Desantis approved the executions of six death row inmates.
In the last 10 years, there have been 16.
Two of them were convicted in Duval County. They were Mark Asay (2017) and Gary Bowles (2019).
Read: Florida executes convicted serial killer Gary Ray Bowles, who targeted gay men
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