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Florida once again breaks records this Thursday following the scheduled execution of Bryan Frederick Jennings, a former marine convicted of the kidnapping and murder of the girl Rebecca Kunash in 1979. With this case, the state reaches 16 executions so far in 2025, the highest number recorded in a single year under the governorship of Ron DeSantis.
Jennings, 66, will receive the lethal injection at 6:00 p.m. at Florida State Prison, after the United States Supreme Court denied his final appeal, clearing the way for the execution to proceed.
According to court records, in May 1979, Jennings entered the home of young Rebecca Kunash, took her from her room, and subjected her to severe assaults that resulted in her death. The girl was found hours later in a nearby canal. The case shocked Brevard County and left him on death row for nearly four decades.
According to a report by the agency EFE, the judicial process had multiple stages, with its first two convictions overturned on appeal, and the final sentence was reached in 1986. His lawyers argued that he spent months without legal representation before the governor signed the final order and that he has not had a clemency hearing since 1988.
Florida, a national leader in capital punishment
Florida has become the state with the highest number of executions in the United States this year, accounting for more than a third of all executions carried out in the country.
In the coming weeks, two more are scheduled: that of Richard Barry Randolph, another former military personnel, on November 20, and Mark Allen Geralds, on December 9. If these proceed as planned, the total will rise to 18 executions in 2025.
Ron DeSantis has defended this accelerated pace, asserting that “delayed justice is justice denied”. However, civil organizations accuse him of using the death penalty as a political tool.
In addition, with the execution of Jennings, there have now been nine ex-military personnel executed under the DeSantis administration. Activists and veterans have warned that many return from missions with trauma, post-traumatic stress, or untreated injuries.
Retired Sergeant Ryan Sanshuck expressed it plainly: "When Florida executes veterans, it tells us that our pain and our service do not matter."
The Catholic bishops requested clemency
Days before the execution, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to DeSantis requesting the suspension of the executions of Jennings and Randolph. In their message, they stated that "it is possible to achieve the purposes of punishment while also exercising mercy," and they denounced that capital punishment goes against human dignity.
Catholic communities held vigils and prayers for the condemned, the victims, and their families.
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