Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has scheduled an execution for Norman Mearle Grim Jr., a 65-year-old man convicted of sexually battering and murdering his neighbor in 1998. Grim is set to receive a lethal injection on October 28, following his conviction in the death of Cynthia Campbell, whose body was found off the Pensacola Bay Bridge by a fisherman after she was reported missing, as detailed by WSVN.
Prosecutors have previously stated that Campbell suffered multiple injuries to her head and face, consistent with being struck by a hammer, as well as having 11 stab wounds in the chest. DNA evidence linked Grim to the crime, for which he was convicted of sexual battery and first-degree murder in December 2000. In a statement obtained by ABC News, it was reported that at least seven of the stab wounds were found to have penetrated her heart. Grim's execution date comes as Florida continues to lead the nation in the number of executions, with the state having conducted its 12th execution of the year on September 17.
This year alone, Florida has surpassed its previous annual total for executions, with the number standing at eight in 2014 since the death penalty's restoration by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. According to WSVN, two other executions are also scheduled to take place this fall in Florida, with Victor Tony Jones and Samuel Lee Smithers set to be executed tomorrow and October 14, respectively, for separate murders.
The United States as a whole has carried out 33 executions in 2025, which exceeds the tally from last year’s total of 25. Florida's increase in executions is not an anomaly, as both Alabama and Texas were also reported to have carried out executions last Thursday. Appeals are expected to swiftly be filed in the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court in response to these scheduled executions, a process that has become fairly common in death penalty cases.
