Florida sets execution date for man who raped and murdered 6-year-old girl in 1979

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl in central Florida is scheduled to be executed in November under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. record speed in executions.

Bryan Fredrick Jennings, 66, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on November 13 at Florida State Prison. Jennings will be the 16th person to be executed in Florida in 2025; DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

DeSantis signed his death warrant on Friday, just days before his scheduled execution on Tuesday. Samuel Lee Smithers. Another convicted murderer Norman Mearle Grim Jr.He is scheduled to die on October 28.

Jennings was convicted of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault and sentenced to death in 1986 after two previous convictions were overturned.

According to court records, Jennings climbed through the window of a Brevard County home in May 1979 and kidnapped 6-year-old Rebecca Kunash. Investigators said Jennings took the girl to an area near the Merritt Island canal and raped her. Following the attack, Jennings smashed the girl’s head into the ground and strangled her in the nearby canal, where police later found her body.

A short time later, Jennings was arrested on a traffic warrant and police eventually linked him to the girl’s murder.

Jennings’ lawyers are expected to appeal to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

so far 35 people Executed in the USA in 2025 , Florida is leading the charge behind a series of death warrants signed by DeSantis. The most recent execution in Florida was lethal injection on September 30. Victory Tony JonesHe was convicted of killing a married couple during a robbery in South Florida in 1990.

The previous record for executions in Florida in a single year was eight, with the last one in 2014.