STARKE, Fla. — A man convicted of raping and killing a woman near a central Florida bar was executed Tuesday evening.

Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, said Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Gudinas was convicted in the May 1994 killing of Michelle McGrath.

When the curtain to the execution room opened at 6:00 p.m., Gudinas was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his left arm. Then, after the warden got off the phone with the governor’s office, he asked Gudinas if he wanted to make a last statement. Although Gudinas’ words were inaudible to those in the viewing room, Griffin said he repented and made a reference to Jesus.

The drugs were then administered, and the inmate’s eyes began to roll back and he underwent slight chest convulsions. After several minutes, he started to lose color in his face and fell still. The prison warden announcedxthat the sentence had been carried out and the curtain to the execution chamber closed.

— The Associated Press