Record 13th Florida execution this year carried out on man convicted of killing a couple

A man convicted of killing a married couple during a robbery in South Florida in 1990 was put to death Tuesday in a record 13th execution this year in the state.

Victor Tony Jones, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

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.

The curtain to the viewing room opened right at the scheduled 6:00 p.m. start of the procedure.

Asked if he had any last statement, Jones said, “no, sir.” Then the drugs began flowing.

His chest began to heave for a few minutes, then slowed and stopped completely.

The warden shook Jones and shouted his name several minutes into the procedure, but there was no response.

Jones’ face lost color as he laid motionless, and a medic eventually entered the death chamber and declared him dead minutes later.

Officials said the execution was without complications.

“After seeing what I saw tonight, I wish my parents had that opportunity to die so gracefully, close your eyes and just go,” said Irene Fisher, daughter of the victims. “They were violently killed. My father fought for 20 minutes with a stab wound in his heart, and my mother died instantly in the bathroom on a cold floor.”

Jones was a new employee at a Miami 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 armed robbery.

Fisher attended the execution of her parents’ killer with her own two adult daughters and three other family members.

She said she had mixed emotions, as she had never watched anyone die before. But she said she was glad it was finally over and that justice had been served.

The Nestors owned a medical supply store in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, years before it became an internationally known arts and entertainment district.

The building where the business had been located is now a community center.

“My parents would have loved that because they were always helping people in the community,” Fisher said.

Since the US 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 the disability issue had already been litigated and that allegations of abuse were never presented at trial.

Hours before the execution, the US Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.

With Tuesday’s execution, a total of 34 men have undergone court-ordered execution so far this year in the US, and at least eight other people are scheduled to be put to death during the rest of 2025.

Barring legal reprieves, two more executions loom next month in Florida under death warrants signed by the Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, is scheduled to be executed 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 to be put to death 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 sedative, a paralytic and a third drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.