Expanding a modern-era record for executions in a year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of murdering a Bay County woman in 1989.

Mark Allen Geralds is scheduled to be executed Dec. 9 for the murder of Tressa Lynn Pettibone, a 33-year-old Panama City Beach mother who was beaten and stabbed to death in her home. Pettibone's body was discovered on the kitchen floor by her 8-year-old son, Bart, when he returned from school on Feb. 1, 1989, according to court records. Tressa Lynn Pettibone was stabbed three times in her neck.

"The medical examiner found numerous bruises and abrasions on Ms. Pettibone's head, face, chest, and abdomen that were caused by some form of blunt trauma. The medical examiner also determined that the Ms. Pettibone's wrists

See Full Page