Florida’s Record-Breaking Execution: Victor Tony Jones and the Long Road to Justice
In a somber proceeding at Florida State Prison near Starke, 64-year-old Victor Tony Jones was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, marking Florida’s 13th execution of the year—a new state record. Jones, convicted of the 1990 murders of Matilda and Jacob Nestor during a robbery at their Miami medical supply business, died at 6:13 p.m. The execution unfolded with clinical precision; when asked for final words, Jones simply replied, “no, sir.” As the lethal drugs flowed into his system, his breathing gradually slowed until it stopped completely. Officials reported the procedure occurred without complications, in stark contrast to the violent deaths Jones had inflicted on his victims decades earlier. “After seeing what I saw tonight, I wish my parents had that opportunity to die so gracefully, close your eyes and just go,” reflected Irene Fisher, daughter of the victims, who attended the execution with her own adult daughters and family members. “They were violently killed. My father fought for 20 minutes with a stab wound in his heart, and my mother died instantly in the bathroom on a cold floor.”
The tragedy that culminated in Tuesday’s execution began in December 1990, when Jones, then a new employee at the Nestors’ medical supply store in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, launched a brutal attack on the couple. Court records reveal that Jones stabbed Matilda in the neck and Jacob in the chest during a robbery attempt. Despite suffering a mortal wound, Jacob Nestor managed to retreat to an office, retrieve a .22 caliber pistol, and fire five shots, one of which struck Jones in the forehead. When police arrived at the scene, they found Jones wounded but alive, with the Nestors’ money and personal belongings in his pockets—damning evidence that would later lead to his conviction. In 1993, a jury found Jones guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and armed robbery, sentencing him to death for his crimes. For the Nestor family, especially their daughter Irene Fisher, the decades since the murders have been a long journey toward closure and justice.
Fisher expressed mixed emotions about witnessing the execution, acknowledging it was her first time watching someone die. Yet there was also relief that justice had finally been served after more than three decades of waiting. She reflected on her parents’ legacy and the ironic transformation of their former business location into a community center in what is now the internationally recognized arts district of Wynwood. “My parents would have loved that because they were always helping people in the community,” Fisher said. This poignant observation highlighted how time had changed the physical location of the tragedy while the emotional scars remained for those left behind. For Fisher and her family, the execution represented not just the end of a legal process but a pivotal moment in their ongoing grief journey—one that allowed them to honor the memory of Matilda and Jacob Nestor while finally closing a painful chapter in their lives.
Florida’s execution of Jones continues the state’s unprecedented pace of capital punishment in 2023, with the previous record being eight executions in 2014. The state now leads the nation in executions this year, surpassing Texas, which has carried out five. Jones had pursued legal avenues to stop his execution, filing an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court based on claims of intellectual disability and alleged abuse he suffered as a teenager at a now-closed state reform school. However, the court rejected these arguments, noting that the intellectual disability issue had been previously litigated and that the abuse allegations were never presented during his original trial. Hours before the scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal without comment, clearing the way for the lethal injection to proceed. The execution was carried out using Florida’s standard three-drug protocol: a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a third drug that stops the heart.
The human cost of capital punishment extends beyond the condemned and their victims’ families to encompass broader questions about justice, retribution, and the state’s role in taking human life. In Jones’ case, the decades-long wait between crime and punishment illustrates the complex and often torturous pace of America’s death penalty system. For the Nestors’ daughter, this extended timeline meant that justice was significantly delayed, forcing her to live most of her adult life awaiting resolution. Meanwhile, Jones spent over 30 years on death row—a punishment in itself that some argue constitutes cruel and unusual treatment. The case highlights the profound emotional toll that violent crime and its legal aftermath take on all involved parties. Fisher’s wish that her parents could have died as peacefully as their killer reveals the lasting trauma inflicted by violent crime—a trauma that even an execution cannot fully heal.
With Jones’ execution now complete, Florida shows no signs of slowing its capital punishment schedule. Two more executions are planned for October under death warrants signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, convicted of killing two women whose bodies were found in a rural pond in 1996, is scheduled to die on October 14. Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, found guilty of raping and killing his neighbor in 1998, faces execution on October 28. Nationally, 34 people have been executed so far this year, with at least eight more scheduled before the end of 2023. These statistics reflect the ongoing practice of capital punishment in America, even as many other developed nations have abolished the death penalty entirely. For supporters, these executions represent justice served and society’s ultimate condemnation of heinous crimes. For opponents, they raise persistent questions about human rights, the fallibility of the justice system, and whether the state should have the power to take a human life—questions that will likely continue long after Jones’ and other executions fade from headlines.
