Convicted murderer on Florida’s death row since 1997 has been executed
By Melissa Alonso, CNN
(CNN) — Michael Duane Zack III, who was convicted of the 1996 killings of two women he met at bars along the Florida Panhandle, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at the Florida State Prison, according to the state’s Department of Corrections.
Zack met with his wife and spiritual adviser earlier Tuesday, and declined the last meal offered to him, the department said.
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied a request to halt the execution of the death row inmate after attorneys for Zack requested a stay of execution last week, court records show.
In the filing, Zack’s lawyers allege a lower court was wrong to “deny his claim that he is intellectually disabled.”
“At trial, Zack’s defense counsel argued that Zack suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder which are classified as a brain dysfunction and a mental impairment respectively,” according to a state capital case summary.
On Thursday, attorneys for the state of Florida filed a response opposing the stay of execution, court records show.
The nation’s highest court denied the appeal Monday afternoon without comment, court records show.
In 1997, Zack was convicted and sentenced to death for the June 1996 murder of Ravonne Smith, whom he violently killed in her home after meeting at a bar near Pensacola, according to a state capital case summary. Zack received a life sentence for the murder of Laura Rosillo at an Okaloosa County, Florida, beach, whom he also met at a bar before killing, according to the case summary.
“After his arrest, Zack confessed to the murder of Ravonne Smith,” said the case summary.
Zack’s execution was the eighth under Gov. Ron DeSantis and the sixth in the state this year, according to state death row data.
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CNN’s Raja Razek contributed to this report.
