A man in Florida was executed on Thursday evening for the murders of an eight-year-old girl and her grandmother during a night of heavy drinking and drug use. Prison officials stated that Edward James, 63, was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. ET (11:15 a.m. AEDT) after receiving a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
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03-21, 2025James was sentenced to death after admitting to the murders of 8-year-old Toni Neuner and 58-year-old Betty Dick on September 19, 1993. While waiting for the injection, James indicated that he did not wish to make a final statement. Subsequently, during the administration of the drugs, James breathed heavily and his arm twitched before he became still.
Jared Pilon, Neuner's brother, stated afterward that the family was able to find some measure of peace through the process. "But we lost generations because of him," Pilon said. "It was just pure evil. It was a horrible night."
Three other executions took place in the United States this week, including the lethal injection of a man in Oklahoma earlier on Thursday for fatally shooting a woman during a home robbery. Arizona executed a man by injection on Wednesday, and Louisiana executed a man on Tuesday using nitrogen gas for the first time, ending a 15-year pause on capital punishment in that state.
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier rejected James' final appeal, clearing the way for the state's second execution this year. Governor Ron DeSantis signed James' death warrant earlier this year and has signed another execution order scheduled for early April.
James had been renting a room in Dick's home in Casselberry, about 16 kilometers north of Orlando, and Neuner and three other children were staying there the night of the attack. Court records indicate that James drank up to 24 beers, consumed some gin, and took LSD at a party before returning to Dick's residence. The girl was raped and strangled. The other children were unharmed.
James confessed to the crimes, and he was also convicted of raping the girl, as well as stealing Dick's jewelry and car after stabbing her 21 times. Court documents show that James drove the car across the country, occasionally selling pieces of jewelry, until he was apprehended in Bakersfield, California, on October 6 of that year.
Police obtained a video-recorded confession from James, and despite his confession, the jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 11 to 1. James' lawyers filed numerous appeals in state and federal courts, but all were unsuccessful.
Most recently, the Florida Supreme Court rejected a claim that his long-term use of drugs and alcohol, multiple head injuries, and a heart attack in 2023 had caused mental decline, which would make his execution cruel and unusual punishment. The justices unanimously agreed with a lower court ruling that "James' cognitive issues do not render him ineligible for the death penalty."
The court also dismissed an argument from James' attorneys that a heart attack he suffered in prison caused oxygen deprivation to his brain, which should be considered new evidence preventing his execution. The Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization, states that Florida uses a three-drug mixture for lethal injections: a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a drug to stop the heart.
Earlier this year, James Ford was executed for the 1997 murder of a couple in Charlotte County, witnessed by their toddler daughter who survived. Florida officials have indicated that they are next preparing to execute Michael Tenzin on April 8, who was convicted of killing a woman in the Florida Keys in 2000.
