Strict rules Florida death row inmates must follow for final meals as inmate is executed
A 74-year-old man who brutally ambushed and murdered a teenage girl half a century ago has been put to death by lethal injection.
Harold Gene Lucas was executed at Florida State Prison on Tuesday evening (September 1) after spending decades on death row.
He was found guilty of the horrific 1976 murder of 16-year-old Anthia Jill Piper, as well as the attempted murder of her friends, Terri Rice, then 17, and Richard Byrd Jr, then 19.
"She was ambushed, she was shot outside of our home," her grieving brother David Piper recalled during a press conference following the execution.
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After the chilling crime, Lucas eluded police for weeks before being captured following a foot chase that began while he was eating a hamburger at a local McDonald's.
Ahead of his lethal injection, Lucas woke up at 5.45am to prepare for his final day.
Jordan Kirkland, the Florida Department of Corrections communications director, confirmed: “He was provided his last meal and has remained compliant.”
The killer ultimately requested a feast consisting of steak, fries, biscuits, pie, ice cream, and milk.
While we've all heard of extravagant final meals some of the most wicked people in the world have dined on - that's a thing of the past in Florida, as strict rules now govern exactly what inmates can request before they die.
To prevent excessive requests, the food prepared for the final meal must cost no more than $40, and the requested items must be able to be purchased locally near the prison before being prepared by staff.
Texas actually ended the controversial practice of offering death row inmates their choice of a final meal entirely in 2011, thanks to Lawrence Russell Brewer - you'll see what he ordered toward the end of this article.
Back in Florida, Lucas' execution proceeded as scheduled inside the death chamber, where he was strapped to a gurney in a white T-shirt with an IV inserted.
When asked if he had any final words, he replied: "No."
After the lethal injection was administered, he was confirmed dead at 6.18pm - becoming the 14th person to be executed in the state of Florida so far in 2026.
Lester Piper, another of Jill Piper's brothers, also spoke with the press after Lucas' sentence was completed.
"I don't know if closure is the right word to use," he said.
"But I do believe there is a big sense of relief not only in the Piper family but in the Rice family as well."
Lucas had decided not to file any final appeals on his execution, recently telling a court: "I've been on death row for 50 years, and I have no desire to carry this any further... The sooner it's over, the better I'll enjoy it. I am tired."
Two more executions are scheduled to take place in Florida this month. 72-year-old Daniel Owen Conahan, Jr. is set to be put to death on September 10, while 77-year-old Curtis Wilkie Beasley will be executed on September 29.
Infamous death row meals
Victor Feguer
Feguer kidnapped and killed Dr Edward Bartels in July 1960. The doctor's body was later found in an Illinois cornfield with a single gunshot to the head.
Feguer was convicted of federal kidnapping and murder and executed by hanging at the Iowa State Penitentiary on 15 March, 1963.
For his final meal, the 27-year-old murderer requested a single olive with the pit in it. Feguer apparently told guards that he hoped an olive tree would grow from his grave, 'as a sign of peace'.
John Wayne Gacy
One of America’s most notorious serial killers, Gacy was convicted in 1980 after murdering at least 33 boys and young men in the 1970s.
The 52-year-old was executed by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois on 10 May, 1994.
Gacy opted for a bucket of KFC's original recipe chicken, French fries, 12 deep-fried shrimp, and a pound of strawberries for his last supper. In an eerie full-circle moment, it’s said that he previously managed several KFC restaurants owned by his father-in-law.
James Edward Smith
Smith was found guilty of fatally shooting Larry Don Rohus while he was robbing an office building in Houston, Texas, in 1983.
He was put to death by lethal injection at Texas’ Huntsville Unit on 26 June, 1990.
The inmate asked for a lump of rhaeakunda dirt for his final meal, as part of a voodoo ritual, which he both practised and believed in, as he hoped that it would assist his journey into reincarnation.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, his bizarre request was denied, and the 37-year-old was given plain yoghurt instead.
Timothy McVeigh
McVeigh was convicted of conspiracy, using a weapon of mass destruction, and destruction by explosives resulting in death for carrying out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people.
On 11 June, 2001, he was executed for his crimes via lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Indiana.
McVeigh, 33, chowed down on two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream for his final meal.
Lawrence Russell Brewer
Brewer was a white supremacist who, along with two other men, was convicted of murdering James Byrd Jr. in 1998.
Aged 44, he was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Texas on 21 September, 2011.
For his last meal, the criminal infamously requested: two chicken fried steaks smothered in gravy with sliced onions; a triple bacon cheeseburger with fixings on the side; a cheese omelette with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, peppers and jalapeños; a large bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecue meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas with all the trimmings; a Meat Lovers pizza; one pint of vanilla ice cream; a slab of peanut butter fudge; and three root beers.
However, when it arrived, Brewer refused to touch any of it - you can imagine how that went down. His actions ultimately led to the state abolishing the long-standing tradition.
Joe Yates