US man set for execution for 1993 murders

Edward James, 63, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 8 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke, under a death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February. Unless a last-minute reprieve is granted, this will be Florida’s second execution of the year, with a third planned for April.

This week, three other executions have been scheduled across the United States. Louisiana executed a man on Tuesday using nitrogen gas for the first time in its history, marking a return to executions after a 15-year hiatus. In Arizona, a man who kidnapped and murdered his girlfriend’s ex-husband was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday. Another lethal injection is scheduled in Oklahoma on Thursday.

James was sentenced to death for the murders of 8-year-old Toni Neuner and her grandmother, 58-year-old Betty Dick, on September 19, 1993. At the time, James was renting a room in Dick’s home in Casselberry, where Toni and three other children were also staying that night.

Court records indicate that James consumed up to 24 beers at a party, drank gin, and took LSD before returning to his room. The girl was raped and strangled to death, while the other children remained unharmed.

James, who pleaded guilty, was also convicted of raping Toni and stealing Dick’s jewelry and car after stabbing her 21 times. He then drove across the country, periodically selling pieces of the stolen jewelry, before being arrested on October 6, 1993, in Bakersfield, California.

Police obtained a videotaped confession from James, and despite his guilty plea, a jury recommended the death penalty by an 11-1 vote.

James’ attorneys filed multiple appeals in state and federal courts, all of which were denied. Most recently, the Florida Supreme Court rejected claims that his long-term substance abuse, multiple head injuries, and a heart attack in 2023 led to mental decline that would make his execution cruel and unusual punishment.

The justices upheld a lower court’s ruling that “James’s cognitive issues do not shield him from execution.” The court also dismissed his attorneys’ argument that the oxygen deprivation caused by his heart attack should be considered new evidence to halt the execution.

Even if this evidence were new, the court determined that it would not likely lead to a less severe sentence in a new penalty phase, reports UNB.

According to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, Florida administers lethal injections using a three-drug protocol: a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart.

Earlier this year, Florida executed James Ford for the 1997 murders of a couple in Charlotte County, which was witnessed by their surviving toddler daughter. Additionally, Gov. DeSantis has signed a death warrant for the April 8 execution of Michael Tanzi, convicted of killing a woman in the Florida Keys in 2000.