A Florida death row inmate, convicted of a 1997 mass killing at a manufacturing facility, died on Thursday before an execution date could be set. Nelson Serrano, who had been diagnosed with a terminal condition, spent his final days confined to a wheelchair and suffering from severe health issues.
Conviction and sentencing
Nelson Serrano was sentenced to death in 2007 for the brutal murder of four individuals at Erie Manufacturing in Bartow, Florida. The 1997 incident, described as the worst mass killing in Polk County history at the time, shocked the community. The victims, 69-year-old George Gonzalves, his former partner at the plant; Frank Dosso, 35; Diane Dosso Patisso, 27; and George Patisso, 26, were all shot execution-style. The massacre remained unmatched in the county’s history until the September 2021 killing of four members of a North Lakeland family during a home invasion, according to the Lakeland Ledger.
Serrano, originally from Ecuador, was nearing his 86th birthday when he passed away. His declining health included a diagnosis of a brain tumour and blood clots in his lungs, according to individuals involved in his case. In late July, he was transferred to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital due to his deteriorating condition.
Allegations of neglect and final days
Serrano’s son, Francisco, revealed to The Ledger that his father had been in a dire state while incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida, where the state’s death row inmates are housed. Francisco claimed that Serrano had spent nearly two weeks motionless in his wheelchair, soiling himself, and not receiving adequate care, despite the pleas of fellow inmates who urged guards and nurses to attend to him. After raising concerns through his family’s legal representatives, Serrano was moved to the hospital on July 24. As of Thursday afternoon, the Florida Department of Corrections had not updated its website to reflect Serrano’s death.
Legal battles and death penalty controversies
Throughout his time on death row, Serrano consistently maintained his innocence. In 2006, a jury voted 9-3 to sentence him to death, and the sentence was officially handed down in June 2007. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2011 following a direct appeal. However, in 2016, both the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that Florida’s death penalty statute was unconstitutional, mandating that a unanimous jury was required to impose a death sentence. This ruling granted Serrano a new sentencing hearing in 2017. But the legal landscape shifted once again in 2020 when the unanimous jury requirement was overturned by both courts. In 2023, the Florida Legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis changed the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 jury decision.
Despite these legal developments, Serrano remained on death row until his death. In July 2023, the Ecuadorian government requested clemency on Serrano’s behalf in a letter to Governor DeSantis, citing his failing health and his family’s wish to be with him during his final days. It remains unclear whether Serrano’s family was able to see him during his time at the hospital before his death. The circumstances surrounding his last days and whether his family was granted their request for clemency have not been disclosed.
