Updated: Wednesday, December 12, 2018 1:14 pm EST

Jose Antonio Jimenez has several appeals pending before the Florida Supreme Court, a federal court, and the Supreme Court of the United States. At least one of his appeals argues that he should be granted a new sentencing trial due to the Supreme Court of the United States forcing Florida to change its death penalty sentencing protocol. Additionally, in 2016, voters in the state passed the Savings Clause, which allows older crimes to be tried under current laws, however the revised Savings Clause does not go into effect until January 2019. Previously, cases were considered under the law of the time the crime was committed. Jose and his attorneys argue that this revision should apply to him and that he should not be executed.

Updated: Monday, December 10, 2018 8:42 am EST

Jose Antonio Jimenez is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm EST, on Thursday, December 13, 2018, at the Florida State Prison near Raiford, Florida. Fifty-five-year-old Jose is sentenced to death for the murder of 63-year-old Phyllis Minas in Miami, Florida on October 2,1992. Jose has spent the last 25 years on death row in Florida.

Prior to being arrest fro murder, Jose worked as a painter

On October 2, 1992, Jose Jimenez entered the home of Phyllis Minas, located in a north Miami apartment complex. Jimenez was also a resident of the apartment complex. Once Jimenez was inside, he beat and stabbed Phyllis. A neighbor heard her screaming “Oh God, Oh my God!” during the attack and attempted to enter the apartment through the open front door. As they were entering, Jimenez slammed the door shut and locked it. The neighbor called the police.

Jimenez exited the apartment by going out onto a balcony, where he jumped to a neighboring balcony before jumping to the ground. A custodian witnessed a man, whom he later identified as Jimenez, drop to the ground from the balcony. Jimenez changed his clothes and cleaned himself up before re-entering the complex and asking someone to use their phone to call a cab.

When rescue workers arrived at Phyllis’ apartment, she was still alive. She died a short time later. Jimenez was arrested on October 5, 1992, at his parents home in Miami. His fingerprints had been found inside Phyllis’ apartment. He was tried, convicted, and then sentenced to death in December 1994. The jury’s decision was unanimous.

Following his death sentence, Jose was also charged and convicted of second-degree murder of Marie Debas, robbery with a deadly weapon, and burglary with assault for a crime that occurred on October 19, 1990. For that crime he was sentenced to a total of 49 years in prison.

Jose was scheduled to be executed earlier this year, however, it was stayed by the Florida Supreme Court just days before the execution. Jose’s case was stayed after his attorney requested more time to review over 1,000 new pages of police documents from the initial police investigation, that was given to him for the first time just two weeks before the scheduled execution. Jose’s lawyer further said, that two weeks was not enough time to throughly examine all the documents, as it appeared some handwritten notes by the detectives contradicted their trial testimony.

The Supreme Court of the United States has refused to halt Jose's execution. Jose also has appeals before the Florida Supreme Court.

Please pray for peace for the family of Phyllis Minas and Marie Debas. Please pray for strength for the family of Jose Jimenez. Please pray that if Jose is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed or should not be executed for any other reason, that evidence will be presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Jose may come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not already.

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