Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 6 p.m. ^[1] Lucas is the 14th prisoner to be executed in Florida this year, making the state the nation's busiest death chamber with 47 total executions in the U.S. in 2025. ^[2] Lucas was convicted of killing Jill Piper and wounding her friends, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice, after Piper rejected his romantic advances. ^[3] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed death warrants for two additional executions scheduled for September 10 and September 29, 2026. ^[4] Harold Lucas waived all post-conviction appeals and told a circuit judge he wanted to end his death row confinement as soon as possible. ^[5] Lucas was originally sentenced to death in 1977, but his sentence was overturned and reimposed four times over the next decade due to legal issues involving the sentencing process. ^[6] Lucas's final death sentence was imposed in 1990, and all subsequent appeals were unsuccessful, leaving his conviction for first-degree murder intact. ^[7]