Man convicted of killing two of his family members was executed Wednesday in a Florida prison, officials said.
Robert Eugene Hendrix, 47-year-old man convicted of killing his cousin and sister-in-law in 1990, was given lethal injection in the state prison in Starke. He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., according to Florida Department of Corrections. The U.S. Supreme Court had rejected his appeal earlier that day.
Hendrix's parents visited him in the morning along with a Catholic spiritual adviser, corrections department spokeswoman Jessica Cary said.
The prosecutors said Hendrix shot, beat and stabbed cousin Elmer Scott and sister-in-law Michelle at their Lake County trailer home Aug. 27, 1990. The couple was planning to testify against Hendrix in a burglary trial the next day.
A report in Reuters states that Scott and Hendrix were involved in a burglary. Police arrested Scott and he was told to testify against Hendrix for a reduced prison sentence. Hendrix along with his girlfriend Denise Turbyville, shot Scott dead with a bullet in the head and stabbed his neck, prosecutors said. Michelle was stabbed and shot after she tried to intervene. The couple's 5-month-old daughter was unharmed.
In order to avoid the death sentence, Turbyville testified against Hendrix. She was given a 75-year jail term. During her testimony, she said that Hendrix told her his plans to murder Scott to stop him from testifying against him. Hendrix had served 15 months for grand theft, burglary and dealing in stolen property in the Orlando area.
Hendrix's attorneys alleged that the witnesses and evidence provided were not reliable and a fresh trial should be given to him. However, retired Lake County Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross said that the crime Hendrix committed was obvious. "This is the bloodiest murder scene I've ever been to," Gross said, reports Orlando Sentinel.
Hendrix is the fourth inmate to be executed in Florida this year. In 2013, the state put seven inmates to death.
