Courtesy: Florida Department of Corrections
STARKE, Fla. - Jesse Guardado faces execution Thursday evening in Florida for the 2004 fatal stabbing and robbery of a woman who helped him find housing and employment, marking the state's 19th lethal injection this year.
Florida execution scheduled
The backstory:
Guardado, 64, confessed and quickly pleaded guilty to killing 75-year-old Jackie Malone inside her Walton County home on Sept. 13, 2004. The attack occurred during a crack cocaine binge after Malone helped Guardado secure work and housing following a prison release.
Investigators revealed Guardado struck Malone with a tool, stabbed her and slit her throat. He took her purse, jewelry box, briefcase, cellphone and $80 to fund his drug habit.
He pleaded guilty and received a death sentence in October 2005.
Capital punishment record
By the numbers:
Florida has accounted for more than half of the 32 total executions conducted across the U.S. so far this year. Gov. DeSantis, who leaves office in January, said his goal centers on delivering justice to families who have spent decades waiting for death sentences to be carried out.
Thursday's lethal injection will match the record 19 executions Florida carried out in 2025. A federal appeals court ruled in 2024 that Guardado received a "full and fair" hearing during the sentencing phase of his legal proceedings.
Executions in 2 other states Thursday
An Indiana man who admitted to killing his girlfriend's two young children died by lethal injection early Thursday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Jeffrey Weisheit killed the children, ages 8 and 5, by setting fire to his girlfriend's home in the Evansville area in 2010.
The lethal injection started shortly after midnight, and officials pronounced Weisheit dead at 12:45 a.m., according to Indiana Department of Correction chief communications officer Noelle Russell. Prison officials confirmed Weisheit ate barbecue ribs for his final meal and offered no final words.
Alabama is also scheduled to execute an inmate Thursday, joining Florida and Indiana on a day featuring three planned executions across the country.
What's next:
Thomas Mitchell Overton, who was convicted of killing a couple in the Keys in 1999 and their unborn child, is scheduled to be Florida’s 20th execution on Nov. 18.
Ricardo Gonzalez is scheduled to be executed in Florida on Dec. 1 for fatally shooting a North Miami Beach police officer during a 1992 bank robbery.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Indiana Department of Correction chief communications officer Noelle Russell, who provided execution details and timing, as well as Florida Department of Corrections records and federal appeals court findings from 2024 and previous FOX 13 News reports.