Florida Man Convicted of Rape and Murder of 6-Year-Old Girl Faces Execution in November
A man convicted of the rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl in central Florida is facing execution in November following the signing of a death warrant by Governor Ron DeSantis. Bryan Fredrick Jennings, 66, is set to be executed by lethal injection on November 13 at Florida State Prison. This marks the 16th execution scheduled in Florida in 2025, with DeSantis overseeing a record number of executions in a single year since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.
Jennings was convicted of murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery in 1986 after two previous convictions were overturned. Court records show that Jennings abducted 6-year-old Rebecca Kunash from a Brevard County home in May 1979, raped her, and then drowned her in a nearby canal after smashing her head on the ground. He was arrested on a traffic warrant shortly after the crime, and police later connected him to the girl's murder.
Attorneys for Jennings are expected to file appeals to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to halt the execution. Florida has seen a surge in executions in 2025, with 35 people executed in the U.S. so far this year, largely due to the number of death warrants signed by Governor DeSantis. The most recent execution in Florida was that of Victory Tony Jones on September 30, who was convicted of killing a married couple during a 1990 robbery in South Florida.
Governor DeSantis has set a new record for the most executions in a single year in Florida, surpassing the previous record of eight executions in 2014. The upcoming execution of Bryan Fredrick Jennings adds to the list of individuals facing the death penalty in the state, highlighting the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment in Florida.