The last execution of 2018 in the United States is set to take place Thursday in Florida, where a man convicted of a murder that took place more than 25 years ago is to receive a lethal injection.

In October 1992, Jose Jimenez broke into the apartment of a neighbour in North Miami, apparently with the intent to rob her. Instead, he stabbed and beat 63-year-old court clerk Phyllis Minas to death.

“It was a very gruesome crime. He was utterly merciless,” the lawyer who prosecuted Jimenez in 1994, Michael Band, told The Miami Herald.

Jimenez’s execution has been pushed back several times due to legal proceedings but is now scheduled for 6:00 pm (2300 GMT) at the state prison in Starke, Florida.

Lawyers for Jimenez, who is now 55, filed several 11th-hour motions for a stay of execution, including before the US Supreme Court, arguing that his drug addiction was not properly taken into account.

If the execution goes ahead, Jimenez will be the 25th person executed in the United States this year, and the second in Florida.

AFP