He’s set to be executed with a Cuban sandwich and five eggs in his belly

Hours before his scheduled execution Thursday, Miami killer Jose Antonio Jimenez had his last meal: a Cuban sandwich, bacon, five over easy eggs, french fries, vanilla-chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup.

Jimenez, 55, woke up Thursday about 7:30 a.m., and later met with a Catholic spiritual advisor.

“His mood was calm. His mood was in good spirits,” Florida corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady said at an afternoon press briefing.

Jimenez is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. for the 1992 killing of Phyliss Minas, a clerk at Miami’s criminal courthouse. Prosecutors said he broke into Minas’ North Miami apartment, then stabbed her eight times, including two fatal thrusts to the heart.

At his 1994 trial, a neighbor testified he saw Jimenez, who lived in the building, climbing down from Minas’ apartment. His fingerprint was also found on the interior of her front door.

His defense attorney’s have long insisted that Jimenez was not the killer, and the circumstantial case did not prove he was to blame. A jury, nevertheless, voted 12-0 to sentence him to death.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected his last-minute appeals. Jimenez has also filed appeals with the state and U.S. Supreme Court.

He will be the fifth killer executed since Florida changed how it administers lethal injections, a process that critics say may be cruel and unusual punishment. In 2017, the state included a drug called etomidate — intended to induce unconsciousness — to the lethal cocktail administered to inmates during execution.

In arguing against the drug, Jimenez’s lawyers cited the last execution of a Florida inmate: Eric Branch, who was put to death in February for the 1993 murder of a college student. According to defense lawyers, Branch screamed and his head, body and legs shook as the drug was administered.

The Florida Supreme Court, however, rejected the claim, saying it had already “fully considered and approved” the current method of execution.

This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 4:28 PM.