After spending half a century on death row, 74-year-old Harold “Gene” Lucas is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday for a 1976 murder, reigniting pushback from advocacy groups over the state’s rapid pace of executions.
Lucas is set to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Florida State Prison in Raiford. He was convicted in the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Jill Piper in Bonita Springs, as well as two counts of attempted murder involving Piper’s friends. Lucas has waived his remaining legal appeals and chosen not to contest the execution.
If carried out, it will be Florida’s 14th execution of 2026 and the 42nd under Gov. Ron DeSantis. Florida has accounted for 13 of the 23 executions conducted nationwide this year. The state carried out 19 executions in 2025.
In response to the scheduled execution, the advocacy organization Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) issued a statement calling on state officials to end executions and utilize life imprisonment without parole. The group organized vigils outside the Raiford facility and in Tallahassee, North Port, Pinellas County, and the Jacksonville area.
Lucas was first sentenced to death in 1977. Over the following 15 years, the Florida Supreme Court vacated the death sentence four times during direct-review proceedings, citing errors such as improper weighing of sentencing factors, prosecutorial misconduct, evidence restrictions, and flawed jury instructions. Prosecutors continued to seek capital punishment after each reversal until the state Supreme Court upheld the sentence on a fifth appeal in 1992.
“This is not a case of Harold Lucas spending decades gaming the appeals process to delay his execution. These were mandatory appeals,” said Bridget Maloney, communications director for FADP. “He spent decades trapped in a sentencing process the State repeatedly failed to get right. Four times, the Florida Supreme Court overturned his death sentence. Four times, prosecutors chose to seek another one. By repeatedly pursuing death instead of accepting a life sentence, the State prolonged this process for decades – for both Mr. Lucas and Jill Piper’s family.”
According to court filings, Lucas grew up in Arkansas, left school after the seventh grade, and reported a history of childhood abuse and early substance use. Trial experts for both the state and defense testified that Lucas was under the influence of PCP at the time of the 1976 shooting. Records show Lucas had no prior criminal record and expressed remorse during his sentencing testimony.
“Mr. Lucas’ history echoes those of many of the men Florida has executed during this unprecedented two-year surge,” Maloney said. “The people sent to Florida’s execution chamber are not people who had every advantage and chose violence anyway. Again and again, they are people whose lives were shaped by poverty, abuse, addiction, mental illness, and profound neglect. Poverty and trauma do not excuse violence. But a system that ignores both – and then claims death is a carefully reserved punishment – is not telling the truth about how the death penalty works.”
Lucas is the first of three inmates scheduled for lethal injection in Florida this month.
Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 10 for the 1996 killing of 21-year-old Richard Alan Montgomery in Charlotte County.
On Wednesday, DeSantis signed a death warrant setting a Sept. 29 execution date for 77-year-old Curtis W. Beasley. Beasley was convicted in 1998 for the August 1995 beating death of 62-year-old Carolyn Monfort at her Polk County home, where he had been performing maintenance. Beasley, who fled to Alabama under an alias before being arrested, maintained his innocence throughout his legal proceedings.
The state’s most recent execution took place on Aug. 18, when 61-year-old William Frances Silvia was put to death.
READ: Florida Sets Execution Date For 1995 Polk County Slaying As Capital Punishment Pace Continues
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
