Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

DeSantis signs death warrant for 1976 Lee County murder

tampabay.com · 11dShare

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed the warrant for Harold Gene Lucas to be executed over the death of his 16-year-old former girlfriend in Bonita Springs almost 50 years ago. The warrant calls for Lucas, 74, to die Sept. 1 by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. It is the 14th DeSantis has signed this year and comes two days after the state conducted a rare single-day double-execution . The window to carry out the sentence for Lucas runs from noon, Sept. 1 through noon, Sept. 8. On Tuesday, DeSantis said he didn’t “take joy” in presiding over the double execution of James Duckett , 68, and Dominick Occhicone , 80, earlier in the day or “take pride” in signing the warrants even though it will be “more than any administration in the history of the state.” But DeSantis said capital punishment is needed to “bring justice,” as “some of the victims’ families have been waiting a long time.” “We do owe it to them to do it,” DeSantis said Tuesday night at the Florida Sheriffs A

First report: Execution date set for man who shot Florida 16-year-old to death, tried to kill her friends — wfla.com, 11d