Florida executes man convicted of killing 16-year-old girl who rejected romantic advances
A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was put to death Tuesday in the first of three executions planned this month in Florida.
Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, authorities said. He was sentenced to death for the 1976 shooting attack on Jill Piper and the wounding of her friends, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.
Asked if he had any last words before the injection began, Lucas responded, "No," according to spokesman Alex Lanfranconi in the governor's office. The spokesman said in a text message that the execution was conducted without complications.
Lucas was the 14th prisoner executed in Florida this year, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already signed death warrants for two more lethal injections this month. Florida has carried out more than half of the two dozen executions in the U.S. this year.
Lucas chose not to file any last appeals after his death warrant was signed by the governor this year.
"I've been on death row for 50 years, and I have no desire to carry this any further," Lucas had told a judge, according to court transcripts. "The sooner it's over, the better I'll enjoy it. I am tired."
What happened during the deadly 1976 attack
Lucas 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 deadly 1976 attack on Jill Piper and the wounding of her friends, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.
According to court records, Lucas was 24 in August 1976 when he was arrested for trespassing at Piper's Bonita Springs home, south of Fort Myers. Lucas had known the teen for four years and worked for her family, officials said. Lucas and Piper had previously dated, and Lucas told a friend that he planned to marry the girl.
About a week after the arrest, Lucas and Piper had two separate confrontations on the same day, several hours apart, investigators said. Witnesses testified that Lucas threatened to kill Piper.
Piper asked Byrd and Rice to spend that night at her home for protection, officials said. Lucas eventually showed up with a rifle and shot Piper multiple times while she begged for her life and then shot and wounded her friends, investigators said. Lucas was arrested the next day.
Lucas was initially sentenced to death in 1977 with a 12-0 jury recommendation, court records show. The Florida Supreme Court later ruled that the trial judge was wrong to consider the heinousness of the attempted murders while deciding the sentence for the murder. That same trial judge resentenced Lucas to death in 1980.
By the time a third sentencing was ordered, the original trial judge had passed away, and a new judge was assigned. That judge sentenced Lucas to death in 1985, but the Florida Supreme Court later ruled that a new jury should hear the case, though the conviction itself would continue to stand. The new jury recommended death by 11-1, and Lucas was sentenced to death for a fourth time in 1987. The Florida Supreme Court ruled the sentencing order wasn't clear, and that second judge sentenced Lucas to death for a fifth and final time in 1990.
No appeals after that were successful.
Two more executions planned in Florida later this month
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with 19 lethal injections, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Florida has carried out more than half of the 23 total executions in the U.S. this year.
In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.
Two more executions are planned in Florida later this month. Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, is scheduled to die on Sept. 10, followed by Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, on Sept. 29.
Conahan was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man he had paid to pose for nude photos, and authorities suspect him of similar homicides committed in the 1990s in southwest Florida.
Beasley was convicted of beating a woman to death with a hammer, robbing her and stealing her car in 1995.
All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.