Gossip Corner: Richard Ric Ric Henyard

Richard “Ric Ric” Henyard, 34, and an accomplice kidnapped Dorothy Lewis and her daughters, Jasmine, 3, and Jamilya, 7, in 1993 from a Eustis grocery store.

Richard “Ric Ric” Henyard abducted Dorothy Lewis and her 3-year-old and 7-year old daughters from a Eustis grocery store.

Richard..Ric Ric” Henyard, 34, and an accomplice kidnapped Dorothy Lewis and her daughters, Jasmine, 3, and Jamilya, 7, in 1993 from a Eustis grocery store.

Richard “Ric Ric” Henyard abducted Dorothy Lewis and her 3and 7-year-old daughters from a Eustis grocery store.

Henyard, now 34, and a friend, Alfonza Smalls, raped the mother on the trunk of her car while the two young girls were in the back seat.

Henyard was 18 at the time.

The governor’s order set the execution for Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Florida State Prison.

Last year was the first since 1982 that there was not an execution in Florida.

The state justices have upheld that procedure in other recent cases.

TALLAHASSEE A death row inmate appealed to the Florida Supreme Court Monday in a last-ditch effort to stop his execution in two weeks for fatally shooting two young girls after raping their mother.

Executions resumed two months ago when another child killer was put to death after the state modified its lethal injection process and increased training for execution teams.

A death row inmate appealed to the Florida Supreme Court Monday in a last-ditch effort to stop his execution in two weeks for fatally shooting two young girls after raping their mother.

Mark Gruber, who works for a regional state office that represents inmates in death sentence appeals, also asked the Supreme Court to lift a ban against his agency filing civil rights suits in federal court on behalf of their clients.

Gov. Charlie Crist signed a death warrant Wednesday for a central Florida man convicted of killing two young girls after raping their mother in 1993.

Gruber said there is a pending issue before the state Supreme Court regarding lethal injection in Henyard’s case.

Nawara claims that while jailed with Henyard’s co-defendant, Alfonza Smalls, then 14, he heard Smalls repeatedly tell other inmates..I’m a killa, you just a car thief” and..I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again.”

Lewis, now a pastor and motivational speaker, was informed of the death warrant by the governor’s office, but declined to talk about it.

Henyard’s lawyer argued his client should get a formal hearing, which a trial judge has denied, to hear an inmate’s testimony that may imply the accomplice, not Henyard, pulled the trigger.

During Henyard’s trial, prosecutors withheld information from the defense about a sworn statement from inmate Jason Nawara that could have led to a life sentence, Gruber argued.

Nawara claims that while jailed with Henyard’s co-defendant, Alfonza Smalls, then 14, he heard Smalls repeatedly tell other inmates “I’m a killa, you just a car thief” and “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again.”

The mother prayed to Jesus for help, and Henyard replied, “This ain’t Jesus, this is Satan,” according to court records.

In an interview, Gruber said he wants..to do what any private attorney could do, which is file a civil suit” challenging Florida’s lethal injection procedure.

The first was executed last week when Mark Schwab died from a lethal injection for the 1991 murder of an 11-year-old boy.

Earlier this year, Crist asked for a list of about five death row inmates who have served the longest or committed the most heinous crimes so he could sign warrants ordering those executions.

In an interview, Gruber said he wants “to do what any private attorney could do, which is file a civil suit” challenging Florida’s lethal injection procedure.

The mother prayed to Jesus for help, and Henyard replied, “this ain’t Jesus, this is Satan,” according to court records.

Bush called for a study of lethal injection after it took twice as long as usual 34 minutes for convicted killer Angel Diaz, 55, to die in December 2006.

The first was executed last week when Mark Dean Schwab died from a lethal injection for the 1991 murder of an 11-year-old boy.

Afterward, Henyard shot Lewis several times and left her for dead, but she somehow survived.

The warrant mildly surprised Mark Gruber, the attorney for Henyard, because of the timing.