Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday reportedly signed a death warrant for Victor Tony Jones, a convicted double murderer whose crimes shocked Miami-Dade County more than three decades ago.
Jones, 64, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on September 30, potentially becoming the 13th inmate put to death this year in a state that is moving decisively to carry out capital punishment.
The warrant comes just a day after the execution of Curtis Windom, who was convicted of murdering three people in Orange County in 1992.
Florida has already surpassed its previous modern-era record for executions in a single year, reflecting what supporters of capital punishment see as a return to swift and certain justice.
Jones’s case is particularly brutal. He was sentenced to death for the December 1990 murders of Jacob and Matilda Nestor, ages 67 and 66, at their family business.
Jones had only been working for the Nestors for two days when, according to prosecutors, he turned on his employers with deadly violence.
“Evidence at trial established that Jones, who worked for the Nestors, stabbed Mrs. Nestor once to the base of her neck which severed her aorta, and stabbed Mr. Nestor once in the chest, which entered his heart,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote in a letter accompanying Friday’s death warrant.
The attack was so violent that Jacob Nestor, mortally wounded, managed to stagger into his office, pull the knife from his chest, and fire five shots from a small pistol, striking Jones once in the forehead before collapsing. The Florida Supreme Court’s 1995 opinion, which upheld the conviction, noted that the crime scene suggested robbery. “No money or valuables were found on either victim or in Mrs. Nestor’s purse which was found on the couch in the main office next to the defendant. The evidence also was consistent with Mr. Nestor’s body having been rolled over after he collapsed so that personal property could be removed from his pockets,” the opinion said.
Jones was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed robbery. He was captured at the scene, ending any question about his role in the killings.
While legal battles are expected as his execution date approaches, DeSantis has shown no hesitation in authorizing death warrants for some of Florida’s most violent offenders.
Earlier this year, he signed a warrant for David Pittman, 63, who is scheduled to die on September 17 for the 1990 murders of three family members of his estranged wife in Polk County.
Florida’s previous record for executions in the modern era was eight, set in both 1984 and 2014. That number has now been eclipsed, with twelve inmates already executed in 2025.
Among them are Kayle Bates, Edward Zakrzewski, Michael Bell, Thomas Gudinas, Anthony Wainwright, Glen Rogers, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Michael Tanzi, Edward James, James Ford, and most recently Windom.
For supporters of the death penalty, the momentum reflects a long-delayed commitment to justice for victims and their families. For DeSantis, who has made law-and-order themes central to his leadership, the signing of Jones’s warrant underscores Florida’s position as one of the most assertive states in carrying out capital punishment in the nation.
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