Florida man put to death for killing teen girl 50 years ago says 'I'll enjoy it' before execution

Florida man put to death for killing teen girl 50 years ago says 'I'll enjoy it' before execution A man convicted for the 1976 murder of a teenager who rejected his romantic advances has been put to death, 50 years after he coldly took her life and injured her friends A Florida man convicted of killing a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was executed on Tuesday evening. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6.18 pm following a three-drug lethal cocktail starting at 6pm at Florida State Prison near Starke, authorities said. He was sentenced to death over the 1976 fatal shooting of Jill Piper and the wounding of her friends, Richard Byrd Jr and Terri Rice. Lucas had no final words when asked prior to the administration of his lethal injection, spokesman Alex Lanfranconi in the governor’s office said. The spokesman said the execution was carried out without complications. He was the 14th prisoner so far in Florida that has been put to death this year. He certainly won’t be the last, either, as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has already signed off on the death warrants for two more executions, with their death dates to come later this month. After his death warrant was issued, Lucas chose not to file any last-ditch court appeals. He told a judge he wanted to waive his rights to all post-conviction proceedings, stating: “I’ve been on death row for 50 years, and I have no desire to carry this any further. The sooner it’s over, the better I’ll enjoy it. I am tired.” Corrections department spokesman Jordan Kirkland said that on his final day of life, Lucas woke at 5.45 am and received a final visit from his sister later that day. His last meal was made up of steak and fries. He did not meet with a spiritual advisor in the lead-up to his execution. Despite his direct approach to the death penalty in his final days, Lucas desperately attempted to dodge his fate during his 50 years on death row. He was sentenced to death – and resentenced to death four more times – after being convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for the 1976 attack on Piper and her friends. As per court records, Lucas was 24 in 1976 when he was arrested for trespassing at Piper’s home in Bonita Springs, south of Fort Myers. Lucas had worked for the teen’s family and had known her for four years. Lucas and Piper had previously dated, and Lucas told a friend he had planned to marry Piper. A week after his trespassing arrest, Lucas and Piper had two separate confrontations on the one day. The two clashes were several hours apart, investigators say, and several witnesses later testified that Lucas threatened to kill the teenager after their discussions soured that day. As per court documents, on that fateful day of August 14, 1976, Lucas had been drinking and doing hard drugs. He got into a fight at a petrol station, and even told his friends he was going to "put that little (expletive) in a hole.” Jill, meanwhile, had been at a dance with friends. She returned home around midnight with her two friends – 17-year-old Terri Rice and 19-year-old Richard Byrd Jr., whom she had asked to stay the night as she was scared of Lucas. But Lucas was lying in wait for them and fired four gunshots into Piper's back while Rice and Byrd ran inside to call for help. Court records add that Piper begged for her life as she ran inside, bleeding but away from her attacker. Lucas followed, dragged her back outside, and shot her three more times. One of those was a kill shot to the back of the head. He then shot Byrd in the stomach and Rice in the hip. Both of them survived. Lucas was arrested the next day. Part of the reason it has taken the state of Florida more than five decades to execute Lucas came down to a string of procedural errors that saw his death sentence vacated a number of times over the years. Lucas has been re-sentenced to death four times in total over the years. In his 1987 trial, prosecutor John Dommerich told the jurors that Piper’s death “was an execution, pure and simple.” "He executed her when she begged for her life,” Dommerich said. All subsequent appeals fell on deaf ears, with the paedophile drawing his final breath on September 1, 2026, at 6.18 pm. Jill’s brothe Lester Piper said, as per AP, that it was good to see the legal process finally at an end. “I don’t know if closure is the right word to use, but I do believe there’s a big sense of relief,” he said after witnessing the execution of his sister's killer. Janice Rice, whose sister Terri survived the attack on Piper, said she was sorry her sister was no longer alive to witness Lucas' death. “Terri survived that horrific night 50 years ago and lived with the trauma and pain for 44 years,” Rice said. “She wanted more than anything to be here today to witness justice for Jill, but God had other plans for her.”