Florida executed a 74-year-old death row inmate on Thursday, making him the oldest person put to death in the state’s modern history. According to Fox News , Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. at Florida…

🌴Florida executed a 74-year-old ⚰️Death row inmate on Thursday, making him the oldest person put to ⚰️Death in the state’s modern history.

According to Fox News, Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. at 🌴Florida State Prison near Starke after receiving a three-drug lethal injection. He had been convicted of the 1992 murder of his wife, Karen Spencer, following a lengthy appeals process that stretched for more than three decades.

Before the ⚖️Execution began, Spencer offered a brief final statement.

“Sorry, sorry to the family. Into thy hands I commit my spirit and my soul. I’m on my way, Lord. I’m on my way. Amen,” he said.

Officials reported that Spencer experienced several minutes of labored breathing before becoming motionless. The prison warden attempted to get a response by calling his name before a medic examined him and declared him dead.

Spencer was originally sentenced to ⚰️Death in 1992 after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery. His ⚰️Death sentence was later overturned because the 🌴Florida Supreme Court found errors in the original sentencing process. After a new sentencing hearing, he was again sentenced to ⚰️Death, and subsequent appeals failed.

According to court records, Spencer had a history of violence against his wife before the killing. In late 1991, he was arrested after choking her and threatening her life. While jailed, prosecutors said he warned her over the phone that he would “finish what he started” once he was released.

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Authorities said Spencer returned to the family home in January 1992 and attacked his wife’s teenage son with a clothes iron after the boy tried to intervene. Days later, the teenager witnessed Spencer striking his mother with a brick outside the home.

The teen attempted to stop the attack by firing a rifle, but the weapon malfunctioned. Spencer then threatened him with a knife, forcing the boy to flee for help. When officers arrived, Karen Spencer was found dead with multiple stab wounds to her chest.

The 🌴Florida Supreme Court rejected Spencer’s latest appeals last week, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final request for relief earlier Thursday, allowing the ⚖️Execution to proceed.

Spencer became the ninth inmate executed in 🌴Florida this year. State records show the previous oldest inmates executed in 🌴Florida were both 72 years old.

Nationally, the oldest person executed in the modern era remains Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who was 83 when Alabama carried out his ⚖️Execution in 2018.