A 74-year-old Florida death row inmate has become the oldest person executed in the state's modern history after being put to death for the 1992 murder of his wife.

Per AP News, Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10PM on Thursday, June 25, following a lethal injection carried out at Florida State Prison near Starke. He had been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his wife, Karen Spencer, in January 1992.

Before the execution, Spencer was asked if he had any final words. He replied: “Sorry, sorry to the family. Into thy hands I commit my spirit and my soul. I’m on my way, Lord. I’m on my way. Amen."

His final meal before execution

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Spencer's final meal consisted of pizza, French fries and a milkshake.

Death row inmates in Florida are permitted to request one final meal before their execution, although the state places a $40 limit on the order and requires the food to be purchased locally.

Florida's policy differs from Texas, where officials ended the practice of allowing inmates to choose their last meal in 2011. The decision followed the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer. Per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, he requested an enormous meal that included two chicken fried steaks, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pound of barbecue and a triple meat bacon cheeseburger, only to refuse to eat any of it.

Dusty Ray Spencer. Credit: Florida Department of Corrections

Spencer's case and sentencing

Spencer was first arrested after choking his wife and threatening to kill her in December 1991. While in jail, he called her and said he would "finish what he started" once he was released.

After fatally stabbing Karen Spencer in January 1992, he was sentenced to death later that year. However, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing two years later after ruling the trial court had "mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating circumstances." He was resentenced to death the following year.

Although Spencer became the oldest inmate executed in Florida's modern history, he was not the oldest person executed in the United States during the modern era. That distinction belongs to Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who was 83 when he was executed in Alabama in 2018 for the 1989 letter bomb murders of Robert S. Vance and civil rights attorney Robert E. Robinson.

Another 74-year-old Florida death row inmate, Dennis Sochor, is also scheduled to be executed this year. Sochor was convicted of killing a woman he had known for only a few hours after a New Year's Eve party in 1982.

In the United States, inmates spend an average of 20 years on death row before execution because of legal challenges, high costs and difficulties in obtaining execution drugs.

Featured image credit: Florida Department of Corrections

A Florida man convicted of killing five people, including his wife and two young children, shared a final message before he was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday evening.

Michael Bernard Bell, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:25PM at Florida State Prison in Raiford, according to a statement from Governor Ron DeSantis’ office. Bell was sentenced to death for a 1993 double murder, and was later convicted of three additional homicides from 1989, The Guardian reports.

Witnesses said Bell appeared alert as he entered the execution chamber and was strapped to a gurney. Bell closed his eyes shortly after the injection began and was unresponsive within minutes. Medical personnel confirmed his death 10 minutes later.

Just before the drugs were administered, he reportedly said: “Thank you for not letting me spend the rest of my life in prison,” according to the prison’s team warden, via AP. It was unclear to whom the remark was directed.

According to state officials, Bell declined all visitors except for a spiritual adviser on the day of his execution. His final meal, consumed that morning, included home fries, an omelet, bacon, and orange juice.

Bell was initially sentenced to death in 1995 for the fatal shootings of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith outside a bar in Orlando.

Prosecutors said Bell believed the vehicle parked outside the lounge belonged to the man who had shot his brother earlier that year. Armed with an AK-47 and accompanied by two others, Bell waited for the vehicle’s occupants to return before opening fire.

West died at the scene, Smith died en route to the hospital, and a third woman survived, ABC News detailed. Bell also fired at bystanders before fleeing. He was arrested in 1994.

While awaiting trial, Bell was also linked to an earlier triple homicide in 1989. In that case, prosecutors said he murdered his estranged wife during a domestic dispute.

Court records state he beat her with a machete and crowbar before strangling her. He then used the machete to kill their children, aged five and seven, per Metro.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Bell’s final appeal on Tuesday morning, hours before the execution. His legal team had requested a stay, citing concerns over new witness-related evidence. Florida’s Supreme Court had already ruled against the motion last week, stating the evidence against Bell remained overwhelming.

Bell is the 26th person executed in the United States in 2025, surpassing the national total for 2024. His execution marks the eighth carried out in Florida this year; the most of any state so far.

Featured image credit: Sam Scholes / Getty Images.

The concept of a ‘last meal’ is one of the more curious aspects of the US justice system, which allows prisoners on death row to order a final bespoke meal the night before their execution.

Although the practice varies from state to state, inmates are usually told to prepare a menu in advance and typically ask for a mountain of junk food - including pizza, hamburgers, fried chicken, and steak, along with heaps of chocolate and ice cream for dessert.

Different states have different rules - some enforce a strict $40 limit on an inmate’s requests, while others insist that all food must be bought and prepared locally in order to prevent prisoners from requesting overly-exotic and expensive foods.

But over in Texas, last meals have been scrapped altogether, after a condemned prisoner took advantage of a loophole to spite his captors one last time before they executed him.

Credit: Texas Department of Criminal JusticeLawrence Russell Brewer was a white supremacist who was sentenced to death for the racially-motivated killing of James Byrd Jr, who he murdered with the help of three accomplices by dragging him along behind a pick-up truck for three miles along a road.

Brewer and his accomplices were the first white men to receive the death penalty in Texas for the murder of a Black man, and after 21 years on death row, he was finally executed in 2011.

As was standard practice at the time, shortly before his execution Brewer was asked what he wanted for his final meal, and responded with an absolutely enormous mountain of food.

According to a report from the New York Times, Brewer was served two chicken fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions, a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger, and a cheese omelet with beef mince, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos.

Credit: Wirestock, Inc. / AlamyBut that wasn’t all. In addition, he was also served a bowl of fried okra with ketchup, a pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread, three fajitas, and a meat pizza.

For dessert, he was given a pint of 'homemade vanilla' Blue Bell ice cream, one slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts, and three root beers to wash it all down with.

All in all, it sounds like a meal fit for a king- or it would’ve been if he’d decided to eat any of it.

As it transpired, Brewer didn’t eat a single bite of his elaborate last meal, and only ordered the mountain of food to spite the justice system one last time before they killed him.

Texas lawmakers were so outraged by the disrespect that the practice of last meals was scrapped altogether following his death, with State Senator John Whitmire calling for an immediate ban after claiming Brewer’s actions “made a mockery” of the system.

Huntsville Unit, Texas State Penitentiary. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / AlamySenator Whitmire reportedly said in a statement: “He never gave his victim an opportunity for a last meal. Why in the world are you going to treat him like a celebrity two hours before you execute him?"

“It’s wrong to treat a vicious murderer in this fashion. Let him eat the same meal on the chow line as the others," he added.

Effective immediately, everyone on death row in Texas would eat the same food everybody else did, straight from the prison canteen.

And as for Brewer himself, he remained unrepentant 'til the very end. Speaking KHOU 11 News in Houston the day before his death, he said, per Huffpost: “As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets.

“No, I'd do it all over again, to tell you the truth.”

Featured image credit: Mirco Gabriel / Alamy

Death row inmates in Texas no longer get a final meal before their execution - and it's down to a white supremacist's shocking request.

For many years, last meals have been a customary ritual before prisoners have their death sentence carried out.

Some convicts' requests have been pretty specific, like when John Wayne Gacy asked for 12 fried shrimp, a bucket of original recipe KFC, french fries, and a pound of strawberries. Others have been simple, like Ted Bundy requesting steak and eggs.

However, one inmate named Lawrence Russell Brewer - who was a white supremacist - requested an outrageous special meal before his death, and this led to Texas abolishing last meals for other death row inmates.

Brewer, 44, was imprisoned on June 7, 1998, along with John William King and Shawn Allen Berry for murdering a Black man named James Byrd Jr.

The group of men killed Byrd by torturing him before chaining him by the ankles to the back of a pickup truck and dragging him behind it for three miles, per The Mirror.

According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: "Brewer and his co-defendants then dragged the victim to his death, leaving his decapitated and dismembered body to be found the following day by citizens and law enforcement officials," as cited by the outlet.

Brewer and King were convicted of capital murder and sent to death row, making them the first white men to receive the death penalty for killing a Black man in Texas, causing the state to introduce new laws around hate crimes. Meanwhile, Berry received a life sentence for his involvement in the crime.

It was contended in court that the three men carried out their disturbing criminal act "in part, due to their racially separatist affiliation with the Confederate Knights of America and the Ku Klux Klan," per the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. 

Before his execution, Brewer took full advantage of the last meal request, asking for a wild concoction of foods, including chicken steaks, fried okra with ketchup, and a cheese omelet with ground beef, jalapenos, and bell peppers.

It didn't end there as he also requested a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas with all the trimmings, one pound of barbecue and a half loaf of white bread, pizza meat lover's special, one pint of vanilla ice cream; a slab of peanut butter fudge, and three root beers.

The guards did their best to fulfill Brewer's final meal list but, when the prisoner was presented with it, he refused to eat a single mouthful, saying that he wasn't hungry.

Brewer's refusal resulted in Texan Senator John Whitmire ending the 87-year-old tradition, meaning from that day forward, nobody on death row in Texas has had a last meal request granted.

He wrote a letter to the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Division, stating: "Enough is enough...it is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It's a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim," per the BBC.

He called the last meal request an "extremely inappropriate" privilege, adding: "One which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim."

After spending 12 years of his life on death row, Brewer was executed via lethal injection on September 21, 2011. Asked if he had any final words, he replied: "No. I have no final statement," and was pronounced dead at 6.21PM.

The victim's two sisters and a niece called the execution "the next step to total justice for James," as cited by Reuters.

"Hopefully, today we have been reminded that racial hatred and prejudice can lead to tragic consequences for both the victim and his family, as well as the perpetrator and his family," Clara Taylor, Byrd's sister, said. "Our sincere condolences to the family of Lawrence Brewer."

Featured image credit: Buck Kelly / Getty

A man who was on death row in Texas is the sole reason why other inmates in the state are no longer offered a final meal request.

Russell Brewer, 44, was sentenced to death for the brutal 1998 killing of James Byrd Jr., a Black man who was tortured and then chained by his ankles to the back of a pickup truck and dragged for three miles.

According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: "Brewer and his co-defendants then dragged the victim to his death, leaving his decapitated and dismembered body to be found the following day by citizens and law enforcement officials," as cited by The Mirror.

The crime shocked the nation and led to sweeping hate crime legislation. Brewer and John William King were convicted of capital murder and sent to death row, becoming the first white men in Texas to receive the death penalty for killing a Black man.

Their actions were partly tied to affiliations with white supremacist groups like the Confederate Knights of America and the Ku Klux Klan, per the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Shawn Allen Berry, also involved in the crime, received a life sentence.

Before his execution on September 21, 2011, Brewer made headlines with an outrageous final meal request.

It included two chicken fried steaks, fried okra with ketchup, a cheese omelet with ground beef, jalapenos, and bell peppers.

He added a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas with all the trimmings, one pound of barbecue, a half loaf of white bread, a meat lover’s pizza, one pint of vanilla ice cream, a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts, and three root beers.

But what really rubbed law officials up the wrong way was that they obliged the request, all for Brewer to refuse to eat a single bite.

When asked if he had any final words, Brewer replied: "No. I have no final statement," and was pronounced dead at 6:21PM via lethal injection.

That stunt infuriated lawmakers.

Texas Senator John Whitmire immediately took action, writing to the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Division: "Enough is enough... it is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It's a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim," per the BBC.

His words were echoed again: "It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege."

The executive director agreed. The 87-year-old tradition of granting final meal requests was permanently scrapped. From that point forward, no death row inmate in Texas would be granted a last meal of their choosing.

For the family of James Byrd Jr., Brewer’s execution marked a moment of painful closure.

Clara Taylor, Byrd’s sister, said: "Hopefully, today we have been reminded that racial hatred and prejudice can lead to tragic consequences for both the victim and his family, as well as the perpetrator and his family. Our sincere condolences to the family of Lawrence Brewer."

The victim’s two sisters and a niece called the execution “the next step to total justice for James,” as cited by Reuters.

Featured image credit: Joe Raedle/Newsmakers/Getty