Ron DeSantis has set an execution date for Norman Mearle Grim Jr., convicted of sexually battering and killing his neighbor in 1998FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has set an execution date for a 65-year-old man who sexually battered and killed his next-door neighbor in 1998. Two other Florida executions are also scheduled for this fall. The highest previous annual total of recent Florida executions is eight in 2014, since the death penalty was restored in 1976 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Appeals will likely be filed in the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.