A Florida man convicted of killing a husband and wife on a remote farm in an attack witnessed by a couple's toddler, died Thursday at the state's first execution.
James Dennis Ford, 64, was declared dead at 6:19pm after three medication injections at the Florida State Jail.
He was convicted of murdering 25-year-old Gregory Marnolly and his wife, Kimberly, 26.
Both were killed on a fishing trip on a turf farm in Charlotte County, southwestern Florida in 1997, with court records showing two men at work.
Ford had nothing to attend about 25 witnesses when he was tied up by a gurney on Thursday evening.
However, the amendment department said the inmates wrote a message on a piece of paper they read: God blesses everyone. ”
At first, as the injection began, his chest began to swell, slowly stopping all movements.
A few minutes later, the staff shook him, “Ford! Ford!” to see if he was still conscious. There was no response.
At the time of the murder, the couple's 22-month-old daughter witnessed the attack.
Connie Annie/Family Handouts
She was tied to the seat of her family's open pickup truck and survived an 18-hour ordeal before the workers were on the scene of the crime.
Investigators found the girl covered in her mother's blood and suffering from numerous insect bites.
The victim's daughter, Malanda Marnolly, who was absent in Thursday's execution, issued a written statement explaining the pain of losing her parents.
“Living my life without them left me with a blank space I didn't think would hurt so badly,” she wrote. “I know this will never bring me back to my mother and dad, but I will never get the chance to meet them. It gives me peace of mind.”
She recently told Fort Myers TV station WBBH that she had no memories of the murder and only remembered her parents through photographs and other people's memories. “The other day I told one of my grandmas that I would grieve for those you knew,” she added. “But I'm saddened by what happened.”
Ford's execution was the first in Florida in 2025.
One person died in 2024, and from six in 2023, Gov. Ron Desantis had been campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
For the past three years, the governor has not registered for execution. He signed Ford's death warrant in January.
Also, the man who murdered his strip club manager and another man on Thursday evening was executed in Texas after spurring a massive lockdown of the state's prison system.
Court documents show that Ford took Gregory Marnolly after the group arrived to fish, shot him in the head with a .22 caliber rifle, begged him with a blunt shaft like a shaft, and finally slit his throat. It indicates that they attacked.
Kimberly Marnolly was beaten, raped and shot with the same rifle, authorities said.
Ford initially told investigators he was alive when the Munorez left them to go hunting, suggesting that someone else had killed them.
“There is overwhelming evidence that Ford is responsible for the murder and rape,” the prosecutor said in a court filing.
The rifle was later discovered in a nearby ditch where Ford's truck was exhausted from gas, and prosecutors presented DNA evidence at his trial that led to both murders.
The ju judge voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty for murders that the judge agreed to.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Ford's final appeal on Wednesday without comment.
Ford's lawyers have filed many appeals since his ruling, but they all failed.
Recently, the Florida Supreme Court argued that his IQ, which was about 65, placed him in the category of intellectually disabled, at the time of the murder.
The court said only defendants who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime could be subject to the death penalty. Exemption age. ”
It is not clear from court records why these killings occurred.
Part of Ford's defense was that he suffered from childhood abuse, became an alcoholic like his father, and drank about beer cases along with alcohol.
He also suffered from untreated diabetes, which sometimes led to power losses and unstable behavior.
At trial, Ford was found guilty of sexual assault with firearms and child abuse.
The death penalty center said Florida will use three injections of sedative, paralytic and drugs to stop the heart and kill prisoners.
