Florida prepares to execute Harold Gene Lucas, its 14th inmate this year

Harold Gene Lucas, now 74, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday at 6 p.m., becoming the state’s 14th inmate put to death this year. He voluntarily waived further appeals after a circuit judge granted his request, stating he has been on death row for five decades and wishes to end the process. Lucas was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for the 1976 shooting of 16-year-old Jill Piper, who rejected his advances, and the wounding of her friends Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.

The case involved multiple sentencing phases, with Lucas receiving death sentences in 1977, 1980, 1985, 1987 and 1990 following various judicial rulings. Florida leads the nation in executions, having carried out 19 lethal injections this year, more than half of the country’s total. Two additional executions are slated for later in September, involving Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. and Curtis Wilkie Beasley.