A Fort Myers man on death row for nearly five decades learned his execution date as Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his order Thursday, July 30.
Harold Gene Lucas, then 24, shot and killed his 16-year-old girlfriend, Anthia Jill Piper in Bonita Springs on August 14, 1976. Lucas was 24 when he was charged in Piper’s shooting death at her parents’ home.
The execution is set for Sept. 1 in a state that has accelerated its pace under DeSantis the past two years, with a record of 19 executions in 2025.
Piper was shot seven times by Lucas, who claimed to be intoxicated.
He also was charged with attempted murder for wounding Piper’s friends Terri Rice, then 17, of Bonita Springs and Richard Byrd Jr., then 19, of Bonita Springs, who survived the attack.
“The only problem is that he’s still breathing and he gets to dream. Jill doesn’t get that,” the Naples Daily News quoted Craig Humble, a former Lee County sheriff’s deputy who was one of the first to arrive on scene, in a 2012 story about Lucas’ failed appeal.
Florida executed more inmates than any other state in 2025
Florida has executed more inmates since January 2025 than any other state.
July 28 marked the first day in 60 years that the state has put two inmates to death on the same day amid an aggressive death penalty push by DeSantis.
In seven months, there has been 12 executions in 2026. In 2025, there was a total of 19 executions, according to an execution database by the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
At least one person has been put to death every month since February.
Longtime Southwest Florida death row inmates also wait execution orders
The number of Southwest Florida inmates on death row waiting their orders include six others in Lee County, while Collier County has one man among the more than 200 people on Florida’s death row.
Three others have been on death row for decades as well:
∎ Anton Krawczuk for 33 years, who murdered David Staker at his Lee County home in 1990.
∎ Joshua Nelson for 30 years, convicted of killing Cape Coral teen Tommy Owens in 1996. Nelson was arrested on April 2, 1995, after he and his co-defendant Keith Brennan planned to steal Owens’ car and then murder him.
∎ Kevin Foster for 28 years. The Lords of Chaos leader was convicted of the 1996 murder of Riverdale High School band teacher Mark Schwebes. Foster has been on death row since 1998.
One Collier County death row inmate, Brandy Bain Jennings, died of cancer in 2025 after 29 years in prison.
The News-Press and Naples Daily News archives contributed to this report.
Tayeba Hussein is a breaking news reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her at thussein@usatodayco.com.
Stacey Henson is the breaking news and visuals editor for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her at shenson@usatodayco.com
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: 49 years on death row, killer of Bonita Springs teen learns death date
Reporting by Stacey Henson and Tayeba Hussein, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Stacey Henson and Tayeba Hussein, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
