Who Was Mark Allen Geralds? Florida Man Executed for 1989 Murder of Tressa Pettibone

Florida executed Mark Allen Geralds, 58, at Florida State Prison for the 1989 murder of 33-year-old mother Tressa Lynn Pettibone. The lethal injection was carried out on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. ET, according to reports from USA Today and The Mirror US.

Geralds, a Bay County resident, was 22 when he committed the murder on February 1, 1989. Pettibone’s 8-year-old son discovered her beaten, tied up, gagged, and fatally stabbed on the kitchen floor after returning home from school. Prosecutor Jim Appleman described the attack as “outrageous” and among the most horrific the region had witnessed.

Investigators connected Geralds to the crime after he pawned jewelry that matched items stolen from Pettibone’s home the same day. Plastic ties used to restrain Pettibone were also found to match those in Geralds’ car. Reports indicate that Geralds had previously worked on a remodeling project at Pettibone’s home and had observed her family’s routines, which aided in planning the robbery he believed would yield $7,000. Pettibone ultimately died from blood loss after a prolonged beating.

Geralds was convicted in 1990 of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and related charges. His initial death sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court but the conviction was upheld, and he was re-sentenced to death in 1992.

Before his trial, Geralds briefly gained notoriety for escaping from Bay County Jail alongside four other inmates. His wife reportedly smuggled in saw blades, which they used to cut through the bars, and the group climbed out of a sixth-floor window using a rope made from bedsheets before being recaptured within hours.

Geralds’ execution marked the 18th carried out in Florida this year, the highest annual total under warrants signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. In the weeks leading up to his death, Geralds declined further appeals, requested no last meal, and had no visitors or spiritual adviser. Pettibone’s family, who had followed the case through nearly 37 years of legal proceedings, described the execution as bringing a measure of relief and closure.