Florida extended Tuesday its death penalty record in a single year by executing Victor Tony Jones, convicted of murdering two employers in 1990, amid pressure from civil and religious organizations that called for clemency for this prisoner arguing intellectual disability.
Jones, 64, was executed at 6:13 p.m. local time (22:13 GMT) at Florida State Prison in Raiford, the Florida Department of Corrections said.
The last words of Victor Tony Jones
“No, sir…”
The final words of Florida death row inmate Victor Tony Jones before he was executed for the 1990 double murder of two Miami business owners. pic.twitter.com/nFIynjM1g2
– Fox News (@FoxNews) September 30, 2025
Hours before his execution, Jones awoke at 4:30 a.m. and spent part of the day accompanied only by a spiritual advisor, as he received no visits from family members.
According to prison authorities, he was cooperative and chose as his last meal fried chicken, collard greens and sweet tea, a typical southern U.S. menu.
Asked if he wanted to give any last words before the lethal injection, he replied only, “No, sir,” according to Fox News.
This according to Governor Ron DeSantis’ spokesman, Alex Lanfranconi, who also confirmed that the procedure did not present any complications.
Florida breaks execution record
With this punishment, the state raised to 13 the number of executions carried out so far in 2025, a record for Florida so far in a century.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, Florida had not exceeded eight executions in a single year, a figure it reached in 2014.
Florida is followed by Texas, with five executions, and South Carolina and Alabama, with four each.
All this amid an overall uptick in the use of the death penalty in the U.S., following several years with less frequent executions, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).
What did Victor Tony Jones do?
TODAY: Florida is scheduled to carry out the execution of Victor Tony Jones for the murder of a couple: Jacob Nestor and Matilda Nestor in 1990 during a robbery.
His execution will be the 13th of this year and 34th nationwide. pic.twitter.com/hOEC30T2tU
– Friday-Justice-Obsessions (@death_row0506) September 30, 2025
Jones’ case dates back to the 1990 murder of Jacob and Matilda Nestor, a couple he began working for in his Miami engineering business just two days before stabbing them.
Jones petitioned the state for clemency, claiming that the severe abuse he suffered as a teenager at the east-central Florida School for Boys in Okeechobee influenced his path to violence.
The institution, administered by the Florida government, was the scene of systematic physical and psychological abuse at the hands of its employees.
Abuses that the state officially acknowledged in 2024, when it passed legislation to compensate survivors of that school.
Jones’ lawyers had also asked for the pardon of the prisoner because of his intellectual disability, with IQ scores barely reaching 70 points.
But Florida courts, including the Supreme Court, rejected these requests.
Two more executions are scheduled for this year
With this execution, Florida reaffirms its position as one of the most death penalty states in the country.
Its governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, has so far approved 15 executions for this year.
Among the upcoming executions are those of two inmates convicted of murder: Samuel Smithers, scheduled for October 14, and Norman Grim, for October 28.
Human rights organizations warn that the growing number of executions reflects a hardening of penal policy in the state.
To date, 34 inmates have been executed in 10 states across the country in 2025, marking the highest total since 2014, with 35 executions.
Although the state of Ohio issued execution warrants for the next three years, with 27 on its official calendar, its governor, Republican Mike DeWine, indicated that they will not be carried out unless a new method is adopted, calling lethal injection “impossible from a practical standpoint” in 2020.
Victor Tony Jones eligió como última comida pollo frito, col rizada (collard greens) y té dulce, un menú típico del sur de Estados Unidos
QuéOnnda.com
With information from EFE
