A Florida man convicted of killing a husband and wife at a remote farm in an attack witnessed by the couple’s toddler was put to death Thursday in the state’s first execution of the year. James Dennis Ford,

James Dennis Ford, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison. He was convicted of the murders of Gregory Malnory, 25, and his wife, Kimberly, 26, who were killed during a 1997 fishing trip at a sod farm in southwest Charlotte County, where court records showed both men worked.

James D. Ford, who was convicted of murdering a young couple in 1999 in southwest Florida while their toddler looked on, was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison on Thursday and pronounced dead at 6:19 p.