A man who brutally murdered a young couple in front of their baby shared a six-word message before his execution.
James Dennis Ford, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:19PM at Florida State Prison, following a three-drug lethal injection.
Ford was sentenced to death for the 1997 murders of Gregory Malnory, 25, and his wife Kimberly, 26, at a remote sod farm in Charlotte County, Florida, where both men worked.
The couple’s 22-month-old daughter, Maranda Malnory, witnessed the entire horrific attack from her car seat in the back of the family’s open pickup truck.
The toddler miraculously survived the 18-hour ordeal before workers discovered the crime scene. According to USA Today, investigators found her covered in her mother’s blood and suffering from numerous insect bites.
Before receiving his lethal injection, Ford was given the chance to address the 25 witnesses in the execution chamber.
Strapped to the gurney, he chose to remain silent. However, he did leave behind a six-word note, which read: "Hugs Prayer Love!!! God bless everyone," the Florida Department of Corrections revealed.
As the execution began, Ford’s chest heaved before his movements gradually slowed to a complete stop. A staff member shook him and called out: “Ford! Ford!” and checked for signs of consciousness. There was no response.
Maranda, now an adult, was not present for the killer's execution. However, she shared an emotional statement about growing up without her parents.
“Living my whole life without them left me with a void that I had no idea would hurt so bad,” she wrote, per New York Post. “While I know this will never bring me back to my mom and dad, I will never get a chance to meet them, it is giving me peace of mind.”
Speaking to Fort Myers TV station WBBH, she revealed she has no memory of the attack and only knows her parents through photographs and family stories.
“I told one of my grandmas the other day - you grieve the people you knew,” she said. “But I grieve what could have been,” per the outlet.
Court documents revealed that the inmate turned on Gregory after they arrived at the farm to fish, shooting him in the head with a .22-caliber rifle, beating him with an axe-like instrument, and slitting his throat.
He then brutally attacked Kimberly and raped her before also fatally shooting her with the same rifle.
At first, Ford claimed innocence, telling investigators he had left the couple alive while he went hunting and suggested someone else must have killed them.
However, prosecutors presented damning DNA evidence, along with the recovered murder weapon, proving his guilt beyond doubt. The jury voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty, which the judge upheld.
Over the years, the prisoner's lawyers filed several unsuccessful appeals. His final appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court just one day before his execution.
Most recently, his legal team contended that he had an IQ of around 65 at the time of the murders, placing him in the category of intellectual disability. However, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the claim and ruled that only those under 18 at the time of their crime could be exempt from execution.
Ford spent nearly three decades on death row. His execution was the first in Florida this year.