Bobby Joe Long, who pleaded guilty in 1985 to killing eight women in the Tampa area, was executed Thursday night by lethal injection, NBC News reports. Long, 65, was pronounced dead just before 7 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Raiford. The execution was held up for nearly an hour as Jones’ attorneys attempted to get a last-minute a petition for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court, which would have prevented the lethal injection from taking place. Long’s attorneys had contested that lethal injection would be “cruel and unusual,” arguing that Long, who has epilepsy, could suffer a seizure. The state Supreme Court denied the third appeal Friday because it was too late to argue on grounds of his diagnosis, which had been known for at least three decades. Long was sentenced to death for slitting the throat of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. His death warrant was the first to be signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took office in January.