A man convicted of raping and killing a 6-year-old girl in central Florida is scheduled to be executed in November under a death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continues to set a record pace for executions.
Bryan Fredrick Jennings, 66, is set to die by lethal injection on Nov. 13 at Florida State Prison. He would be the 16th person executed in Florida in 2025, with DeSantis overseeing more executions in a single year than any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
DeSantis signed the warrant Friday, just days before the scheduled execution of Samuel Lee Smithers, and another convicted killer, Norman Mearle Grim Jr., is set to be executed on Oct. 28.
Jennings was convicted of murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery and sentenced to death in 1986, after two earlier convictions were overturned.
According to court records, Jennings broke into a Brevard County home in May 1979 and abducted 6-year-old Rebecca Kunash. Investigators said he drove her to a Merritt Island canal, where he raped and killed her. After the assault, Jennings smashed the girl’s head on the ground and drowned her in the canal, where police later found her body.
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