Florida recently executed a man whose crime was described as one of the most heinous in the state’s history by the prosecutor.
Mark Allen Geralds, aged 58, faced execution on December 9 for a murder committed in 1989. He became the 18th person executed in Florida this year, setting a new state record for executions in a single year. The execution was carried out via lethal injection, and Geralds was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m.
Geralds was found guilty of the murder of Tressa Pettibone during a home invasion on February 1, 1989. The crime was notably brutal, with prosecutor Jim Appleman labeling it as one of the region’s ‘cruelest cases ever.’
As reported by the Associated Press, Appleman commented: “The cruel beating he put on Tressa Pettibone is outrageous.”
Prosecutors informed the jury that Geralds was searching for $7,000 in cash at Pettibone’s home and subjected her to a violent beating for information.
They elaborated: “For 20 minutes, Tressa Pettibone suffered an agonizing beating and torture.
“She bled to death in her own home. A woman who was a caring person … And in her own home, she took the last gasps of breath that she could and sucked blood into her lungs.”
Attorney General James Uthmeier included in the death warrant documentation that Pettibone’s body was discovered by her eight-year-old son after he returned from school.
The document described: “There were two stab wounds on the right side of Ms. Pettibone’s neck, and one fatal stab wound on the left side.
“The wounds were consistent with a knife found in the kitchen sink. The medical examiner found numerous bruises and abrasions on Ms. Pettibone’s head, face, chest, and abdomen that were caused by some form of blunt trauma.
“The medical examiner also determined that … Ms. Pettibone’s wrists had been bound with a plastic tie for at least 20 minutes prior to her death.”
After the death warrant was issued last month and an execution date was set, Geralds informed the judge he had no intention of contesting the execution. He declined a final meal and chose not to meet with any spiritual advisor before his execution.