Man Faces Execution 27 Years After Killing Couple in Front of Toddler, Who Was Found Covered in Mom's Blood

A Florida man is set to be executed 27 years after he raped and killed a woman and slit her husband’s throat — all in front of the couple’s 22-month-old child who was then left alone for 18 hours. 

Greg and Kimberly Malnory were found brutally slain in April 1997 on a farm where the couple were on a fishing trip, according to a legal brief filed in the Supreme Court of Florida and reviewed by PEOPLE.

The couple’s child — then two months shy of turning 2 — was found at the scene 18 hours after the crime, pocked in mosquito bites and drenched in her mother’s blood, per the document, which was shared online by Florida State University.

The couple’s killer, 64-year-old James Ford, is set to be executed on Thursday, Feb. 13, more than two decades after he was convicted. 

The couple were on a fishing trip on a remote farm in Charlotte County, Fla., where Greg, 25, and Ford, then 36, worked together, per court records.

Both Greg and Kimberly had been shot and bludgeoned. Ford had also raped 26-year-old Kimberly before killing her and leaving her body near the family’s truck, where their child was found strapped to a car seat, court records show.

Prosecutors presented evidence at Ford’s 1999 trial showing Greg had staggered to the middle of the field after being shot; there, Ford slit his throat, almost ear-to-ear, exposing his underlying muscle tissue.

Ford’s assault of Kimberly was similar in its brutality — she had nine blunt force injuries to her head, one of which penetrated her skull; the bathing suit she was wearing was found “sliced clean through the crotch as if with a sharp knife,” the court document states.

Ford was convicted of murder, sexual battery with a firearm and child abuse, for which he was sentenced to death.

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Even 27 years later, a motive for the crime remains unclear.

Over the years, Ford has filed multiple appeals, all in vain, on grounds of ineffective counsel, per the court documents reviewed by PEOPLE. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Ford’s death warrant in January, the Associated Press reported at the time.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.