Florida executes Harold Lucas, 74, for 1976 teenage girl murder — 14th in 2025
Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was put to death Tuesday at Florida State Prison for the 1976 killing of 16-year-old Jill Piper. Florida has now carried out 14 executions this year, more than half of all U.S. executions in 2025.
Florida executes man convicted of killing teenager who rejected him in 1976
Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke — the 14th prisoner executed in Florida this year, ABC News US reports. Lucas was convicted of the 1976 shooting death of 16-year-old Jill Piper, who had rejected his romantic advances, and the wounding of her two friends, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.
The execution was carried out by a three-drug lethal injection. A spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis's office, Alex Lanfranconi, confirmed the procedure was completed without complications. Asked if he had any final words, Lucas said only, "No."
Fifty years on death row
Lucas was 24 years old in August 1976 when he was first arrested for trespassing at Piper's home in Bonita Springs, south of Fort Myers. Court records show he had known the teenager for four years and had worked for her family; the two had previously dated.
About a week after the trespassing arrest, Lucas and Piper had two separate confrontations on the same day, hours apart. Witnesses testified at trial that Lucas threatened to kill her. Piper asked Byrd and Rice to stay at her home that night for protection. Lucas arrived with a rifle and shot Piper multiple times as she pleaded for her life, then shot and wounded her two friends. He was arrested the following day.
Lucas was convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. His path through the courts stretched over decades: he was sentenced to death in 1977, resentenced in 1980, again in 1985, a fourth time in 1987, and a fifth time in 1990 — each time following rulings by the Florida Supreme Court that found procedural or legal flaws in the prior sentencing.
After Gov. DeSantis signed his death warrant earlier this year, Lucas chose not to file any further appeals. "I've been on death row for 50 years, and I have no desire to carry this any further," he told a judge, according to court transcripts. "The sooner it's over, the better I'll enjoy it. I am tired."
Florida leads the nation in executions
Florida has now carried out more than half of the 24 executions conducted across the United States in 2025. DeSantis has already signed death warrants for two additional lethal injections scheduled later this month.
Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, is set to be executed on September 10. He was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man he had paid to pose for nude photographs; authorities suspect him in a series of similar killings in southwest Florida during the 1990s. Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, faces execution on September 29 for beating a woman to death with a hammer, robbing her, and stealing her car in 1995.
In July, Florida executed two prisoners in a single day — the first state in nearly a decade to do so. All executions in Florida are carried out using a three-drug protocol: a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
Source: ABC News US