After spending half a century on death row, 74-year-old Harold “Gene” Lucas is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday for a 1976 murder, reigniting pushback from advocacy groups over the state’s rapid pace of executions.
Lucas is set to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Florida State Prison in Raiford. He was convicted in the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Jill Piper in Bonita Springs, as well as two counts of attempted murder involving Piper’s friends. Lucas has waived his remaining legal appeals and chosen not to contest the execution.
If carried out, it will be Florida’s 14th execution of 2026 and the 42nd under Gov. Ron DeSantis. Florida has accounted for 13 of the 23 executions conducted nationwide this year. The state carried out 19 executions in 2025…