Convicted murderer executed in Florida

Florida executes James Dennis Ford, convicted of murdering a couple during a 1997 fishing trip, despite mental health concerns.

A Florida man convicted of killing a husband and wife at a remote farm in an attack witnessed by the couple’s toddler was put to death Thursday in the state's first execution of the year.

James Dennis Ford, 64, was pronounced dead at 6.19 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison. He was convicted of the murders of Gregory Malnory, 25, and his wife Kimberly, 26. Both were killed during a 1997 fishing trip at a sod farm in southwest Florida's Charlotte County where court records showed the two men worked.

Ford had nothing to say Thursday evening to about 25 witnesses present as he lay strapped on a gurney. But the Corrections Department said the inmate did write a message on paper that read: “Hugs Prayer Love!!! God bless everyone.”

At first, as the injection began, his chest began heaving and then, slowly, all movements ceased. A few minutes later a staffer shook him and yelled “Ford! Ford!” to see if he was still conscious. There was no response.

At the time of the killings, the couple’s 22-month-old daughter witnessed the attack. She was strapped in a seat in the family’s open pickup truck and survived an 18-hour ordeal before workers came upon the crime scene. They found the girl covered in her mother’s blood and suffering from numerous insect bites, according to investigators.

The victims’ daughter, Maranda Malnory, was not present for Thursday's execution but issued a written statement describing the pain of losing her parents.

“Living my whole life without them left me with a void that I had no idea would hurt so bad,” she wrote. “While I know this will never bring me back to my mom and dad, I will never get a chance to meet them, it is giving me peace of mind.”