Fla. Department of Corrections
MIAMI -- Florida is going ahead with the execution of a convicted mass killer from the 1970s after an appeals court lifted a last-minute stay.
State Department of Corrections spokeswoman Ann Howard said the execution of 64-year-old John Ferguson is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison. Ferguson has been on Florida's death row for 34 years.
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court on Monday lifted a stay put in place over the weekend by a judge in Florida. Ferguson's lawyers argued he is mentally ill and therefore the Constitution prohibits the state from executing him.
Ferguson was convicted of killing eight people in 1977 and 1978, including a teenage couple.
Associated Press