A death row inmate convicted of killing and raping an 8-year-old before murdering her grandmother in 1993 is asking Florida not to execute him on March 20, citing his “mental decline.”
The attorney for Edward James, 63, argued in a stay of execution filed Wednesday that executing the Seminole County man would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment due to his 30 years on death row and “significant mental and physical decline.” It was filed days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed James’s death warrant on Feb. 18.
The execution is scheduled for March 20 at 6:00 p.m…