A man convicted of the 1979 killing a 6-year-old girl who was abducted from her bedroom was put to death Thursday evening, Florida's record 16th execution of the year. Bryan Frederick Jennings, 66, was pronounced dead at 6:20pm following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis said. Jennings drew the death penalty for the murder of Rebecca Kunash, who was raped and drowned in a canal, the AP reports.
When asked if he had a final statement, Jennings said "No" loudly. As the drugs were administered, his chest heaved and his arms twitched for a few minutes. Then he laid still with his mouth open. Court records show Jennings was a 20-year-old on leave from the Marine Corps on May 11, 1979, when he removed the screen from the girl's bedroom window while her parents were in another room. Jennings abducted the girl, took her in his car to a canal and raped her, trial testimony showed. He then "swung her by her legs to the ground with such force that she fractured her skull," according to court records. The girl was then drowned in the canal, where her body was found later that day.
Arrested hours later on a traffic warrant, Jennings matched the description of a man seen near the Kunash home when the girl disappeared. Shoeprints found at the home matched those Jennings was wearing, his fingerprints were found on the girl's windowsill, and his clothes and hair were wet, court records stated. Jennings was convicted and sentenced to death twice for the 1979 murder in Brevard County, both of which were reversed on appeal. The final trial in 1986 resulted in a third death sentence. He also drew life sentences for kidnapping, sexual assault, and burglary convictions.
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