A Florida Man Was Executed By Lethal Injection 32 Years After Convicted Of Kidnapping And Murdering 10-Year-Old Girl

A man was convicted 32 years ago and sentenced to the death penalty for the kidnapping and murder of Elisa Nelson, a 10-year-old girl in 1980, which he was finally executed by lethal injection Wednesday in Starke Fla.

Nelson was riding her bike to school after she just received braces from the dentist. That's when Nelson, 27-years-old at the time kidnapped her. attempted to molest her before beating her, stabbing her, and crushing her head with a concrete-encased pole, evidence showed. He was sentenced to the death penalty in 1981.

"How terrified must this little girl have been? Could she see this monster was about to crush her child-sized skull because she wouldn't die?" Jeff Nelson, Elisa's brother, asked when speaking to the media after the execution. "Those are the images that come to mind whenever we think about Elisa."

She was reported missing when she didn't show up home and a team of searchers recovered her remains in a nearby orange grove. She had been hit in the head with a concrete brick and she had her throat slit.

Nelson filed an appeal to the Federal court, but nine years later, he would be re-sentenced. He would appeal again, even up to the last minutes before his death Wednesday, which would be rejected.

Melissa Sellers, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Scott's office, said Mann was pronounced dead at 7:19 p.m. at the Florida State Prison in Starke. He was 59.

"Somebody told me today is National Siblings Day. Certainly I never expected to spend it like this," Jeff Nelson said. "Elisa Vera Nelson was a bright, funny, caring and beautiful girl. She was a Girl Scout and played Little League baseball - she was one of the best on the team."

The defendant confessed to the killing after evidence of the girl being in his car was found by his wife. He had also raped at least two other people, one of whom was a 7-year-old girl.

"I don't know what the overall picture is, but if there is a Hell, that's where he belongs. [...] At the execution, I would be really glad just to see him sweat. I know what he did to my niece," the victim's aunt stated to 10 News before the execution.