Prayer Vigils Planned During Execution Of Tampa Serial Killer

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — As the state prepares to execute convicted Tampa serial killer Bobby Joe Long, 65, by lethal injection at 6 p.m. tonight at Florida State Prison in Starke, opponents throughout the state are staging protest vigils in hopes of an 11th-hour stay by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta rejected Long's request to stop the execution. Long's attorneys argued that the state's lethal injection process involving the use of three drugs is cruel and unusual because of Long's diagnosed history of epilepsy, which could cause seizures during the execution.

This comes after a failed appeal before the Florida Supreme Court.

Long was living in an apartment above a storefront in Tampa when he was arrested in 1984.

Although Long ultimately pleaded guilty in 1985 to kidnapping, raping, battering and murdering eight Tampa Bay women, he is being put to death for the murder of Michelle Sims, 22, whose body was found on the side of a road in Lake City in May 1984.

He received life sentences for the other seven murders. He remains a suspect in the murders of two other women.

On a Facebook page called Remember the Victims of Bobby Joe Long, family and friends ask the community to pay tribute to all of Long's victims.

Artiss Wick hitch-hiked from Gas City, Indiana, to Tampa. She was engaged to be married. She often gets left out of his list of victims.

Nguen Thi “Lana” Long immigrated to California from Laos. She followed her boyfriend to Tampa, and was enrolled to attend art classes at USF.

Michelle Denise Simms was once a beauty contestant in her home town of Culver, California.

Chanel Williams had just received her GED.

Elizabeth Loudenback was a shy girl who worked on an electronics assembly line.

Karen Dinsfriend had a daughter named Alexa.

Vicky Elliott has plane tickets to go back home to Muskegon, Michigan. She had dreams of being a paramedic.

Kimberly Hopps had dreams of moving out west to Texas.

Virginia Johnson lost a sister in a car accident a year prior to her murder.

Kim Swann had a son named Robbie, and was enrolled in vocational school.

They all had lives. They were all murdered by one man, who will soon receive justice. In the coming weeks, remember their names, and honor their lives.

Time ran out for Long on April 23 when DeSantis signed his death warrant.

Nevertheless, in a letter to DeSantis on May 20, Michael Sheedy, executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked DeSantis to commute Long’s death sentence to a life sentence without parole.

“Although he caused much harm, society has been safe from his aggressive acts in the decades of his incarceration,” said Sheedy. “Without taking his life, society can be protected while he endures the alternative sentence of life without the possibility of parole.”

Sheedy encouraged DeSantis to promote a consistent pro-life ethic in Florida.

“The cycle of violence – to which Mr. Long’s acts have contributed – must end. His execution would only perpetuate it,” said Sheedy.

Prior to Long’s scheduled execution, the Catholic church is encouraging members to gather across Florida to pray "for the victims of violent crimes and their families, for those on death row, for the governor as he confronts the decision to proceed with the execution, and for an end to the use of the death penalty."

Related story: Bobby Joe Long Denied Stay Of Execution; Surviving Victim Speaks