A man convicted of killing a married couple during a robbery in South Florida in 1990 was put to death Tuesday, marking the 13th execution in Florida this year, a state record.
Victor Tony Jones, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
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.
Jones was asked if he had any final statement and he said, “No, sir,” according to DeSantis spokesman Alex Lanfranconi. The spokesman said there were no complications from the three-drug injection.
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.
Two more executions planned for October
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.
Executions next month were ordered under death warrants signed by the Republican 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 a three-drug injection: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
