MIAMI – A Miami-Dade judge rejected the latest appeal by Juan Carlos Chavez on Wednesday, a farmhand convicted of killing 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce nearly 20 years ago.
Chavez confessed to kidnapping Ryce at gunpoint, driving him to a remote horse farm in rural Miami-Dade County where he raped him, and then shot the boy in the neck when he tried to escape. The boy's dismembered remains were found sealed in cement-filled planters behind Chavez's home.
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Gov. Rick Scott signed a death warrant earlier this month for Chavez, who was convicted in 1998.
Jimmy's father, Don Ryce, recently spoke to the media about Chavez's execution. WATCH the interview in its entirety: Part I Part II
Chavez is scheduled to die by lethal injection Feb. 12.