RAIFORD, Fla. — For the second time this year, a prisoner has been executed in Florida.
Louis Gaskin, nicknamed the Ninja Killer, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Florida State Prison in Raiford.
About fifty people, who the event organizer says travelled more than 100 miles from Daytona, protested Gaskin's execution. The group stood across the street from the death chamber expressing their opposition.
Gaskin's last words according to someone who witnessed his execution were, "Look at my case."
When the clock struck 6 o'clock, protestors took turns hitting a bell.
"We've been told by people who've been exonerated from death row that they are able to hear the bell," Philip Egitto said.
Among the many who protested Gaskin's execution was Father Egitto. He says he believes killing is wrong.
"When the governor signs a death warrant for someone's execution, it's done in the name of the people of Florida. And we don't want the blood of anyone on us," Egitto said.
Gaskin was convicted of shooting and killing a couple in 1989 inside their home in Flagler County. On the same night, he committed an armed robbery, burglary and attempted murder of another couple.
Gaskin confessed to the crimes but filed numerous appeals over the years. Those appeals discussed concerns that evidence of his mental illness was not given to the jury before it recommended death.
"If someone has a mental problem you don't execute them, you heal them," another protestor said.
Independent Journalist John Koch witnessed the moments leading up to Gaskin's execution. While reading his notes he says Gaskin was calm and didn't look around the room.
"He was tightly secured. There was a sheath over him. So you don't see how he's tightly but you look at the arms, and they're wrapped, and he's strapped," Independent Journalist John Koch said.
He died by lethal injection without any complications according to the prison. The victim's family members were not present.
Egitto says he believes life in prison without parole would have been a better sentence for Gaskin.
"We believe that killing people who kill people to stop people from killing people is silliness and ridiculous," Egitto said.
This is the second execution under a death warrant signed by Governor Ron DeSantis this year. The next execution is scheduled for May 3 for Darryl Barwick, an inmate whose been on death row for more than 30 years.