Family of Bonita Springs murder victim prepares for execution of her killer after waiting decades

Harold Gene Lucas, convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in 1977, is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 1 after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant Thursday. The crime took place in August 1976 in the front yard of a Bonita Springs home. Sixteen-year-old Jill Piper was returning home with two friends when she encountered her ex-boyfriend, Lucas, armed with a rifle. Lucas shot Piper seven times, including a fatal shot to the back of her head, and also shot her friends, Terri Rice and Richard Byrd Jr. Cindi Piper, Jill’s sister-in-law, described the scene. “Yeah. I mean, it was like a horror scene. I mean, by the time we got there, she was dead. In fact, she'd been shot a couple times, but she'd also been executed in the back of the head,” Cindi said. Jill’s brother, Buck Piper, shared his memory of the tragic day. “I tried, uh, cradling her, you know. They didn’t want me to touch her, but I did anyway,” Buck said. The Piper family never expected Lucas to remain on death row for as long as he has, initially anticipating only a few years before his execution. “Death row may be lonely, but can you imagine how many people he saw do the walk and he didn’t have to?” Cindi said. Jill Piper’s father passed away before seeing her killer face execution, but the family plans to bring Jill’s 86-year-old mother from Alabama to witness the event. The family said it feels surreal to finally have a date set for Lucas’s execution after decades of waiting. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.