STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man from Florida, convicted of the rape and murder of his neighbor, is scheduled to face execution on Tuesday evening.

Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, will receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison, located near Starke. He was found guilty of sexual assault and first-degree murder in the 1998 case involving his neighbor, Cynthia Campbell.

This execution will be the 15th in Florida during 2025, setting a new state record for the number of executions carried out in a single year.

Cynthia Campbell was reported missing in 1998, and her body was discovered by a fisherman near the Pensacola Bay Bridge. According to prosecutors, Campbell suffered severe blunt-force trauma to her face and head, likely caused by a hammer, along with 11 stab wounds to her chest. An autopsy concluded that seven of these wounds punctured her heart. DNA evidence linked Grim to the crime, leading to his conviction for the murder in December 2000, resulting in his death sentence.

After a death warrant is signed and an execution date is set, inmates have a last chance to appeal to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. But Grim waived any appeals during a hearing earlier this month.

A total of 40 men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and at least 18 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 Texas and Alabama with five each. Two more executions are planned for next month in Florida under death warrants signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Bryan Fredrick Jennings, 66, is scheduled for Florida’s 16th execution on Nov. 13. He was convicted of raping and killing a 6-year-old girl in 1979 after entering through a window and abducting her from her central Florida home.

Richard Barry Randolph, 63, is set for Florida’s 17th execution on Nov. 20. He was convicted of the 1988 rape and fatal beating of his former manager at a Florida convenience store.

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.

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