STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of the 1988 rape and brutal murder of his former boss at a Florida convenience store is set to face execution on Thursday evening.

Richard Barry Randolph, now 63, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke. In 1989, Randolph was sentenced to death for murder, armed robbery, sexual assault, and grand theft.

This execution would mark the 17th in Florida for the year 2025, setting a new state record for the number of executions in one year.

Court documents reveal that in August 1988, Randolph attempted to access the safe at the Handy-Way convenience store in Palatka, where he had been employed. He was confronted by the store manager, Minnie Ruth McCollum, leading to a violent altercation.

Randolph subsequently assaulted McCollum, first beating, then strangling, stabbing, and raping her before fleeing the scene in her vehicle, as detailed in the records.

Three women witnessed Randolph leaving the store and called the sheriff’s office after seeing through the window that the store was in disarray. A deputy responded and found McCollum still alive. She was taken to a hospital in a coma and died six days later of severe brain injuries, according to doctors.

Randolph was arrested shortly after the attack at a Jacksonville grocery store while trying to borrow money and cash in lottery tickets stolen from the convenience store, according to deputies. Investigators said Randolph admitted to the attack and directed them to bloody clothing that he had discarded.

The Florida Supreme Court denied Randolph’s appeals last week. He had argued that a lower court had abused its discretion in denying him access to public records and that his own defense lawyers had acted without his consent. A final appeal was still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A total of 43 men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and more than a dozen other people are scheduled to be put to death during the remainder of 2025 and next year.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas with five each. Two more executions are planned for next month in Florida under death warrants signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Mark Allen Geralds, 58, is scheduled for Florida’s 18th executiond on Dec. 9. He was convicted of fatally stabbing a woman during home invasion robbery.

Frank Athen Walls, 58, is set for Florida’s 19th execution on Dec. 18. He was convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman during home invasion robbery, and he later confessed to three other killings.

Florida’s lethal injections are carried out with a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.