A man convicted of killing a teenage girl who turned down his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was put to death on Tuesday, marking the first of three lethal injections scheduled to take place in Florida this month.
Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was officially pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. following the administration of a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison located near Starke. Lucas received the death penalty for the 1976 fatal shooting of 16-year-old Jill Piper and the wounding of her companions, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.
Secured to a gurney with an intravenous line inserted into his arm, Lucas lay waiting as the execution chamber curtain was raised on schedule at 6 p.m. When the prison warden asked whether he wished to offer a final statement, Lucas answered simply, "No."
The lethal drugs began flowing into his system shortly afterward, causing Lucas to begin breathing heavily and then gasping before he eventually stopped moving altogether. A few minutes later, the warden approached, shook Lucas, and shouted his name, but received no response. A medical officer was subsequently called into the chamber and declared Lucas dead.
Lucas marked the 14th death row inmate executed in Florida this year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed death warrants for two additional lethal injections set to be carried out later this month. To date, Florida has accounted for more than half of the two dozen capital executions conducted across the United States this year.
Lucas chose not to submit any late-stage legal appeals to delay the execution, telling a presiding judge: "I’ve been on death row for 50 years, and I have no desire to carry this any further," according to official court transcripts. He added: "The sooner it’s over, the better I’ll enjoy it. I am tired."
Lester Piper, the brother of the murder victim, expressed relief after observing the final conclusion of the lengthy judicial process.
"I don’t know if closure is the right word to use, but I do believe there’s a big sense of relief," Piper stated following his attendance as a witness to the execution.
Janice Rice, whose sister Terri survived the violent assault on Piper, said she felt sorrow that her sister was no longer alive to witness the final lethal injection.
"Terri survived that horrific night 50 years ago and lived with the trauma and pain for 44 years," Rice remarked afterward. "She wanted more than anything to be here today to witness justice for Jill, but God had other plans for her."
According to official court records, Lucas was 24 years old in August 1976 when he was taken into custody for trespassing at Piper’s home in Bonita Springs, situated south of Fort Myers. Authorities said Lucas had known the teenager for four years, had previously worked for her family, and had dated her.
Investigators stated that approximately one week after his arrest, Lucas and Piper were involved in two separate confrontational disputes occurring hours apart. Court testimony from witnesses established that Lucas threatened to kill Piper during those encounters.
Facing threats, Piper asked Byrd and Rice to stay at her home overnight to protect her, according to officials. Lucas subsequently arrived at the residence armed with a rifle and shot Piper multiple times while she begged for her life, before opening fire on her two friends and wounding them. Police took Lucas into custody the following day.
Following his trial, Lucas was convicted of first-degree murder as well as two counts of attempted first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death—a punishment that would ultimately be reinstated and handed down four additional times.
Lucas was initially sentenced to death in 1977 following a unanimous 12-0 jury recommendation, court documents show. However, the Florida Supreme Court later determined that the original trial judge erred by taking into account the heinous nature of the attempted murder charges when deciding the capital sentence for the murder count. That same trial judge subsequently resentenced Lucas to death in 1980.
By the time a third sentencing proceeding was ordered, the initial trial judge had died, resulting in the assignment of a new judge who sentenced Lucas to death again in 1985. The Florida Supreme Court subsequently ruled that a new jury must be convened to deliberate on a sentence recommendation, although the murder conviction itself remained standing.
That new jury recommended capital punishment by an 11-1 vote, leading to Lucas being sentenced to death for a fourth time in 1987. Citing a lack of clarity in that sentencing order, the state Supreme Court intervened once more, resulting in Lucas receiving a death sentence for a fifth time in 1990.
A total of 47 people were executed nationwide in the United States in 2025. Florida led the country that year with 19 executions, setting a state record since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.
In July, Florida became the first state in nearly ten years to carry out two executions on a single day. Two additional executions in Florida are scheduled to take place shortly, with Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, set for execution on Sept. 10, and Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, scheduled for Sept. 29.
Conahan was convicted in the kidnapping and fatal strangulation of a man he had paid to pose for nude photographs, and authorities suspect him of involvement in similar homicides in southwest Florida during the 1990s. Beasley was convicted of beating a woman to death with a hammer and stealing her vehicle in 1995.
All capital executions in Florida are conducted through the administration of a three-drug lethal injection protocol consisting of a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a medication that halts the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
