James Dennis Ford, who was convicted over two decades ago for the murder of a young married couple that their 2-year-old daughter witnessed, was put to death Thursday evening for the grisly slaying. It was Florida’s first execution in 2025.

The 64-year-old has spent the past 25 years at the Florida State Prison after he was handed a death sentence by a judge in Charlotte County for shooting Greg Malnory, 25, in the heart and murdering his wife Kim Malnory, 26, after she was beaten and sexually assaulted.

He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. after a lethal injection, the Associated Press reported. He had nothing to say after being strapped to a gurney in front of about 25 witnesses. A few minutes after the lethal cocktail of drugs began to flow, Ford’s chest heaved. A staffer shook him and yelled “Ford! Ford!” to see if he was conscious. There was no response.

His last meal was steak, mac and cheese, fried okra and pumpkin pie, WBBH Gulf Coast NBC reported. He met with several family members before the execution.

Ford’s lawyers filed multiple appeals citing longstanding federal and state precedent, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal on Wednesday, according to WUFT.

In April 1997, the couple’s bodies were discovered at South Florida Sod Farm in Charlotte County after they were lured there by Ford, a co-worker with Mr. Malnory, under the guise of a fishing trip. The two were both bludgeoned and shot to death with a rifle.

Their bodies were discovered the next day near their pick-up truck by a farm worker, who also found Greg and Kim’s daughter Maranda, nearly two years old at the time, strapped in a child seat along with the family’s dog. Young Miranda was left in the truck for nearly 18 hours and found dehydrated and covered in insect bites and blood.

“The child was screaming and very distraught. If it weren’t for those open windows, the baby wouldn’t have made it,” Chuck Ellis, a spokesman for the Charlotte County Sheriff, said to the Tampa Bay Times in 1997.

“I told one of my grandmas the other day you grieve the people you knew, but I grieve what could have been,” Maranda, who is now 29 and living in Port Charlotte, told Gulf Coast News. “I wasn’t even two yet. I have no recollection of any of what happened.”

Ms. Malnory also said that if she had a chance to speak to Ford, she would ask why he chose to murder her parents in cold blood.

“I would want to know why,” she said. “Just because nobody has been able to pinpoint that. But to be honest, I don’t really care anymore.”

She also showed a brief moment of sympathy for her parents’ killer.

“Technically, my worst enemy is the person who did this,” she said. “But I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”