James Ford was executed for killings of Florida newlyweds whose toddler survived the attack
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A Florida killer found guilty of shooting and bludgeoning a newlywed couple to death in front of their toddler was finally executed on Thursday, nearly three decades after his gruesome crimes.
James D. Ford, 64, was executed via lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Thursday for the murders of Greg Malnory, 25, and his wife Kimberly, 26, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant on Jan. 10.
"Never give up. Always fight for your children," Connie Ankney, mother of Greg Malnory, told Fox News Digital in an interview on the day of the execution, which she traveled hours to attend. "I never quit fighting for my son and Kimberly. I didn't know if I would be alive today to see this because Kimberly's mother isn't."
"They always talk about… closure," she added. "Well, no, it's justice. Just justice."
Greg and Kimberly Malnory with their young daughter. (Connie Ankney/Family Handout)
Ankney disclosed that throughout this week, leading up to Ford's execution, she was feeling a mix of emotions.
"Remembering that day… what they must have went through, the terror, the horror, the fear," she said.
On a Sunday morning in the spring of 1997, Greg and Kimberly Malnory made plans to go fishing at South Florida Sod Farm, along with Ford, Greg's co-worker at the Charlotte County farm.
Their deceased bodies were discovered the following day, April 7, 1997, near the couple's pickup truck in the middle of a field on the remote 7,000-acre farm. Authorities found their 22-month-old daughter Maranda strapped inside her car seat in the truck, having survived the attack, according to court records.
"They didn't get a chance to be parents…it was taken away so soon," Ankney said.
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Greg and Kimberly Malnory at their wedding, just six months before they were killed, Greg's mother said. (Connie Ankney/Family handout)
The young couple met in high school but began their romantic relationship later on and were together for several years, Greg's mother explained. They had married just six months prior to their deaths.
"We had gone to Tennessee. They got one of those country weddings in the mountains, and they stayed in one of those big cabins. Kimberly had her white boots," Ankney recalled. "I can't even put it into words because, you know, it was such a beautiful thing …and then six months… such a horrific ending to that beautiful, beautiful family."
On the day their remains were discovered, Ankney was called to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, where she learned the horrific news.
"I walked in there and Kimberly's mother and stepdad were there… sobbing," she said. "She told me that they were dead, and I just couldn't believe it…said they're dead but the baby's alive."
Ankney initially believed the couple were killed in a boating accident because the two had told her they were going fishing, and she hadn't heard from them since.
"They didn't say murder right away…and when they did…I just lost it," she said. "It doesn't hit you right away…it's just so unbelievable. Murders didn't happen in Charlotte County… it was a small little town and everybody knew everybody."
James Ford was executed for murdering Greg and Kimberly Malnory. (Florida Department of Corrections)
Investigators discovered that Greg Malnory had been shot in the head and bludgeoned with his throat slit and that Kimberly Malnory had been sexually assaulted, brutally beaten and then shot dead, documents show.
Maranda had been in the vehicle for over 18 hours with the doors wide open, covered in her mother's blood.
"It's just beyond my comprehension… it's evil," Ankney said. "Poor Maranda, just left there to die. It was actually divine intervention that she survived…the angels must have been with her."
Authorities said that while Ford was attacking Greg, Kimberly was doing everything she could to save her daughter, which explained the presence of Kimberly's blood on the child's clothing.
Defensive wounds were found on the backs of Kim’s arms, which indicated that she put up a struggle, according to court records.
"The fear that Kimberly must have felt trying to get Miranda in that car seat and trying to get into that truck… she never drove a stick in her life," Ankney said. "Just trying to get the hell out of there and fighting him."
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Greg and Kimberly Malnory's 22-month-old daughter was found left in her car seat in the family's pickup truck on the remote South Florida Sod Farm. (CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)
During their investigation, law enforcement learned that Ford had been seen with the victims in the area of the crime just before the killings, and then he was later seen the same evening "in a distracted state with blood on his face, hands, and clothes," according to court documents. Ford was also observed the day after the murders with scratches on his body.
"I spent some time with him in a pickup truck going through the property, having him recount what their activities were that day," James Kenville, one of the responding deputies at the time and now a major with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, told WFTX about Ford. "He was very cool, he was believable when you talked to him, but the physical evidence was telling us that wasn't the case."
Greg Malnory's DNA was discovered on a knife in Ford's bedroom, Kimberly's DNA was located in Ford's truck, and Ford's DNA was found on Kimberly's body and clothing, court records show.
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James Ford was executed for the 1997 murders of Greg and Kimberly Malnory. (CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)
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The bodies of Greg and Kimberly Malnory were discovered near their pickup truck on the remote South Florida Sod Farm. (CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)
Ankney described her son as a "fun, loving kid" with many friends, who "loved to fish and loved to hunt and drive his blue pickup truck through the mud," adding that Greg enjoyed his time as an employee at the South Florida Sod Farm.
"He went to work every day, and he told me, 'Mom…it's like heaven,' and when he died there, I said, ‘Oh my God… it was where he was supposed to go,'" she told Fox News Digital.
Ankney said her daughter-in-law Kimberly was "bubbly, funny," and "she never had a child before, but she took it very serious. She loved Maranda."
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Several years after the killings, Ankney stumbled upon Parents of Murdered Children.
"Between them and my pastor and Jesus, I survived," she said. Since 1999, she's worked with the organization, helping other grieving parents.
"I told myself, if I can help one person, then I've done my job," Ankney said. "It's a support group like no other."
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Greg and Kimberly Malnory were murdered at a South Florida Sod Farm in 1997. (CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)
Ford was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, sexual battery with a firearm, and child abuse, and he was sentenced to death on June 3, 1999. His execution on Thursday was the first in Florida this year, after one in the state in 2024 and six in 2023.
"I just want to give him a big hug and…tell him thank you, thank you," Ankney said about DeSantis and signing the death warrant.
"They can finally rest in peace. This has been something that's been going on for 27 years, and now they can have peace," she added. "The heartache is still going to be there, but he's done. I have no mercy for him… it's totally in God's hands."
Mollie Markowitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to
