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FLORIDA - The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request to block the upcoming execution of Victor Tony Jones, who was sentenced to death for the 1990 murders of a Miami-Dade couple.
Jones’ attorneys argued that evidence of alleged abuse he suffered as a child at the now-closed Okeechobee School and Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys could support a life sentence if considered in a retrial.
Jones, 64, was convicted of killing 66-year-old Matilda Nestor and 67-year-old Jacob Nestor at their business in December 1990.
Court records show Mrs. Nestor was stabbed in the back of the neck, severing her aorta, while Mr. Nestor was stabbed in the chest, puncturing his heart.
Before succumbing to his injuries, Mr. Nestor allegedly retrieved a firearm and shot Jones in the forehead.
Police later found Jones inside the business with the Nestors’ wallets, keys, and other belongings in his pockets.
At the hospital, Jones allegedly told a nurse he killed the couple because they owed him money.
In a 5-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Jones’ claims about childhood abuse were procedurally barred because the incidents occurred decades before his trial and were not raised in previous proceedings.
The court stated that any mitigation from the abuse was known to Jones since the 1970s and cannot be considered newly discovered evidence.
Additional claims regarding intellectual disability and the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment were also rejected.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant on August 29th.
Jones is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison, potentially becoming the 13th modern-era execution in Florida this year.
The Florida Catholic Conference requested that his sentence be commuted to life without parole, citing the state-recognized history of alleged abuse he experienced as a minor.