Mark Allen Geralds: Man convicted of killing Panama City mom to die next month by lethal injection

ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida man is scheduled to be executed for a 1989 murder next month. 

Mark Allen Geralds, 58, was convicted and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Panama City mother of two, Tressa Lynn Pettibone.

What we know:

Geralds will die by lethal injection on Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. 

This decision comes after a jury found Geralds guilty of first degree murder, armed robbery, burglary of a dwelling, and theft of an automobile and recommended the death sentence. In March 1990, a judge sentenced him to death. 

Geralds sought post-conviction relief – claiming he was denied an impartial jury due to pretrial publicity and ineffective council. Geralds claimed the prosecution attempted to "inflame the minds and passions of the jurors. But a jury recommended his death in a 12 to 0 vote. 

On Nov. 7, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Geralds' death warrant. 

What is Geralds convicted of? 

The backstory:

Geralds was convicted of the murder of Tressa Lynn Pettibone.

What happened? 

On Feb. 1, 1989, Pettibone's eight-year-old son arrived home from school and found his mother on the kitchen floor with three stab wounds. 

Pettibone was stabbed twice in the neck – though a medical examiner said she was alive after these wounds because of bleeding found in the tissues – and stabbed once in the left torso. The stabbing to her torso – hitting the trachea and the right carotid artery, court reports said – was fatal. 

A knife was found in the kitchen sink. 

Pettibone was also bound with a plastic tie at least 20 minutes before her death. The plastic tie was later found in Geralds' car, court reports said. 

Stolen items

Geralds stole various items of jewelry – including a herringbone necklace, which he pawned – a pair of sunglasses – which he gave to his friend – and Pettibone's Mercedes – which was found in the parking lot of a nearby school. Seven-thousand dollars hidden in the home was not stolen, a court report said. 

Geralds' sister later testified that she was aware that Geralds had previously been involved in stealing automobiles. 

‘Premeditated’

At the sentencing, a trial court said the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.

Through an investigation, it was found that Geralds – who worked for the Pettibones as a carpenter by doing work on their home for months – approached the family at a mall one week before the murder. 

At this time, Pettibone told Geralds her husband was out of town on a business trip. 

Later, Geralds approached the son at a video arcade and asked when his father would be back from his trip and when his sister left and would be home from school.