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Next Florida execution set for February

Eric Scott Branch was convicted of killing a University of West Florida student in 1993
 
Eric Scott Branch (courtesy Florida Department of Corrections)
Eric Scott Branch (courtesy Florida Department of Corrections)
Published Jan. 19, 2018

Gov. Rick Scott has scheduled Florida's next execution for February.

Eric Scott Branch, convicted of raping and strangling University of West Florida student Susan Morris in 1993, is set to die on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.

According to a press release from Scott's office, Branch dragged Morris into a wooded area near the Pensacola campus, where he beat her, strangled her, and raped her.

Branch then left Morris' body in a shallow grave covered with dirt and leaves, and stole her car to flee out of the state.

Two years earlier, in Indiana, Branch raped and beat a 14-year-old girl, and he was later convicted of raping a woman in Florida 10 days before he killed Morris, according to the release.

Branch asked a judge last year to vacate his sentence, after Scott signed a law requiring juries to unanimously recommend a death sentence, according to the Pensacola News Journal. Branch's 1994 jury recommended death 10-2.