Death Row, Execution

Mark Allen Geralds | Death Row Roll Call 2025

Mark Allen Geralds is scheduled to die in Florida’s execution chamber on December 9, 2025, for the 1989 home-invasion murder of 33-year-old Tressa Lynn Pettibone, a Panama City Beach mother found beaten, bound, and stabbed on her kitchen floor while her children were at school.

Mark Allen Geralds

American Killer

Last Updated November 19, 2025

Mark Allen Geralds | Death Row Roll Call 2025

  • Full Name: Mark Allen Geralds
  • State: Florida
  • County of Conviction: Bay County
  • Current Location: Florida State Prison, Raiford (Death Row) WUSF+1
  • Date of Birth: March 29, 1967
  • Age (2025): 58
  • Sex: Male
  • Crime Date: February 1, 1989 Online Sunshine+1
  • Primary Victim: Tressa Lynn Pettibone, 33
  • Offenses: First-degree murder, armed robbery, burglary of a dwelling, grand theft auto Online Sunshine+2WUSF+2
  • Method of Execution Set: Lethal injection ABC News+1
  • Scheduled Execution Date & Time: December 9, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. ET ACIS+2AP News+2
  • Status: On death row; death warrant active; final state and federal appeals exhausted, remaining remedies waived. WUSF+4Wikipedia+4Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+4

Classification & Characteristics

Mark Allen Geralds is classified as a single-victim, robbery-murder offender whose crime combined a planned home invasion with the killing of a prior acquaintance. Prosecutors argued that he used his knowledge as a contractor who had worked on the Pettibone home to time the attack for a window when the children were at school and the victim’s husband was out of town. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+2vLex+2

The murder itself is characterized by Florida courts as especially violent and prolonged. Evidence showed that Tressa Pettibone was bound with a plastic tie, beaten with blunt force across her upper body, and stabbed multiple times in the neck, suggesting both restraint and extended struggle. Those details supported aggravators for robbery-murder, pecuniary gain, and “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel” at sentencing and kept Geralds under a death sentence through resentencing, postconviction, and habeas review. Supreme Court+2Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+2

Timeline of the Mark Allen Geralds Case →

  • February 1, 1989 – Tressa Pettibone is found beaten, bound, and stabbed to death in her Panama City home by her eight-year-old son. Online Sunshine+2Supreme Court+2
  • March 15, 1989 – Bay County grand jury indicts Geralds for first-degree murder, armed robbery, burglary, and auto theft. FSU Law Library
  • February 7, 1990 – Jury convicts Geralds on all counts and recommends the death penalty. FSU Law Library+1
  • March 26, 1990 – Trial judge sentences him to death plus life terms on non-capital counts. FSU Law Library
  • 1992 – Geralds I – Florida Supreme Court affirms convictions but vacates the death sentence, remanding for a new penalty phase. Supreme Court+1
  • 1993–1996 – Geralds II – New jury again recommends death; Florida Supreme Court affirms the renewed death sentence; U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari. FSU Law Library+1
  • 1997–2010 – State postconviction proceedings culminate in Geralds v. State, 111 So.3d 778 (Fla. 2010), which denies relief on Brady and ineffective-assistance claims. Supreme Court+2FindLaw Case Law+2
  • 2018 – Florida Supreme Court rejects his Hurst-based challenge in Geralds v. State, 237 So.3d 923 (Fla. 2018); U.S. Supreme Court again denies review. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+1
  • May 12, 2021 – Eleventh Circuit denies federal habeas relief in Mark Allen Geralds v. Attorney General, State of Florida, leaving his conviction and death sentence intact. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+1
  • November 7, 2025 – Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a death warrant scheduling Geralds’ execution for December 9, 2025, Florida’s 18th execution of the year. WUSF+4AP News+4ABC News+4
  • November 2025 – Florida Supreme Court issues a warrant-schedule order; advocacy groups highlight his case as emblematic of systemic issues with postconviction counsel. ACIS+2Floridians for Alternatives+2
  • Late 2025 – Geralds formally waives remaining postconviction challenges, declining to fight the execution date. WUSF+2AOL+2

Case Summary

Mark Allen Geralds is on Florida’s death row for the February 1, 1989 home-invasion murder of 33-year-old Tressa Lynn Pettibone in Panama City Beach, where she was found beaten, bound with a plastic tie, and stabbed in the neck while her children were at school.

Investigators tied Geralds to the crime through pawned jewelry bearing the victim’s blood type, plastic ties matching those used on her wrists, and his prior work in the Pettibone home and interest in the family’s schedule.

A Bay County jury convicted him of first-degree murder and related charges in 1990, and after a resentencing and decades of failed appeals, Florida has set his execution for December 9, 2025, by lethal injection.

→ Quick Answers

  • What did he do?
  • Geralds was convicted of entering the Pettibone home, binding and beating Tressa Pettibone, stabbing her in the neck, and stealing jewelry and the family Mercedes. Supreme Court+2Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+2
  • How was he linked to the crime?
  • Evidence included pawned jewelry with blood consistent with the victim, plastic ties in his car matching those used on her wrists, shoes consistent with prints at the scene, and his prior work in the home and interest in the family’s schedule. Supreme Court+3Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Online Sunshine+3
  • Did he have prior criminal history?
  • Florida’s capital-case summary notes an “extensive” prior record and habitual-offender status on non-capital counts, which strengthened the sentencing aggravation picture. Online Sunshine+2Online Sunshine+2
  • Has any court overturned his conviction?
  • No. The Florida Supreme Court has consistently upheld his conviction; only his initial death sentence was vacated, leading to a new penalty phase and renewed death sentence. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Supreme Court+3Justia+3
  • What is happening now?
  • A death warrant is active for December 9, 2025. After years of postconviction litigation, Geralds has waived further appeals, and advocates are focused on clemency and policy criticism rather than courtroom challenges. WUSF+3WUSF+3AP News+3

🕊️ Victim of Mark Allen Geralds

  • Tressa Lynn Pettibone, 33, was a wife and mother living in Panama City Beach, Florida. On the day she died, her husband was away on business, and her children were at school. Her eight-year-old son discovered her body on the kitchen floor when he came home that afternoon – bound at the wrists, heavily bruised, and stabbed in the neck. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Online Sunshine+3WUSF+3
  • Court records consistently describe Tressa as the intended target of a robbery that turned into a brutal killing, carried out by someone who knew her home, her routine, and her temporary isolation. Online Sunshine+2vLex+2

→ FAQs

What did Mark Allen Geralds do?

Geralds was convicted of entering the Pettibone home, binding and beating Tressa Pettibone, stabbing her in the neck, and stealing jewelry and the family Mercedes. Supreme Court+2Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+2

How was he linked to the crime?

Evidence included pawned jewelry with blood consistent with the victim, plastic ties in his car matching those used on her wrists, shoes consistent with prints at the scene, and his prior work in the home and interest in the family’s schedule. Supreme Court+3Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Online Sunshine+3

Did he have prior criminal history?

Florida’s capital-case summary notes an “extensive” prior record and habitual-offender status on non-capital counts, which strengthened the sentencing aggravation picture. Online Sunshine+2Online Sunshine+2

Has any court overturned his conviction?

No. The Florida Supreme Court has consistently upheld his conviction; only his initial death sentence was vacated, leading to a new penalty phase and renewed death sentence. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Supreme Court+3Justia+3

What is happening now?

A death warrant is active for December 9, 2025. After years of postconviction litigation, Geralds has waived further appeals, and advocates are focused on clemency and policy criticism rather than courtroom challenges. WUSF+3WUSF+3AP News+3

Mark Allen Geralds | Death Row Roll Call 2025

Mark Allen Geralds | Death Row Roll Call 2025

👉 The Story

A Carpenter Who Knew the House

By early 1989, Mark Geralds was not a stranger to the Pettibone family. He had worked on their Bay County home and, according to later court summaries, knew its layout and routines. vLex+1

Roughly a week before the murder, he crossed paths with Tressa and her children at a mall. She mentioned her husband was out of town. Not long after, in the arcade, Geralds approached eight-year-old Bart and asked specific questions: when he and his sister left for school, when they came home, and when their father would return. Those details, seemingly casual in the moment, would later be read as reconnaissance. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+1

A Quiet House, a Violent Attack

On February 1, 1989, the house was quiet. Kevin Pettibone was away on business. The children were at school. Sometime during that span, the attacker entered the home and set on Tressa in the kitchen and dining area.

Blood-pattern evidence showed a struggle across several points in that space. Her wrists were cinched with a plastic tie for at least twenty minutes before her death. She was beaten about the face, head, chest, and abdomen, then stabbed three times in the neck. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Supreme Court+3Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3

When Bart returned home from school, he found his mother’s body on the kitchen floor. The Mercedes was gone. Family members quickly realized that jewelry and other personal items – including a gold herringbone chain and red Bucci-style sunglasses – were missing. Online Sunshine+2Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+2

The Evidence Trail

In the days around the killing, Geralds’ movements drew attention. He allegedly showered at his grandfather’s house the day of the crime and left with a pair of sunglasses he said were for friends. Witnesses later described him giving away red sunglasses around that time. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+1

Investigators found:

The case was circumstantial but dense. Defense counsel presented no witnesses. The jury convicted him on all counts and recommended death, a recommendation that would survive a resentencing and decades of appellate scrutiny. FindLaw Case Law+4FSU Law Library+4Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+4

Legal Status | Paper Trail | Mark Allen Geralds

  • 1992 – Direct Appeal (Geralds I)
    Florida Supreme Court affirms Geralds’ convictions but vacates his death sentence after finding error in allowing the jury to hear about prior convictions during the penalty phase; case remanded for a new sentencing hearing. Supreme Court+1
  • 1996 – Resentencing Appeal (Geralds II)
    After a new penalty phase and a second unanimous death recommendation, the Florida Supreme Court upholds his death sentence; the U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari later that year, making the sentence final under then-existing law. FSU Law Library+1
  • 2010 – Postconviction Appeal (Geralds v. State, 111 So.3d 778)
    In a consolidated decision addressing his Rule 3.850 motion and related claims, the Florida Supreme Court rejects arguments about Brady violations, ineffective assistance of counsel, and other alleged errors, leaving conviction and sentence intact. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+3Supreme Court+3FindLaw Case Law+3
  • 2018 – Hurst Litigation (Geralds v. State, 237 So.3d 923)
    In light of Hurst-related challenges to Florida’s death penalty scheme, the Florida Supreme Court rules that Geralds is not entitled to relief, reasoning that his case falls outside the narrow window for Hurst retroactivity and that his jury’s recommendation was unanimous. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+1
  • 2019–2021 – Federal Habeas (N.D. Fla. and 11th Cir.)
    A federal district court denies his habeas petition; in 2021, the Eleventh Circuit affirms, finding that state courts reasonably rejected his Brady, Giglio, and ineffective-assistance claims and that no constitutional violation warranted relief. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals+2Supreme Court+2
  • 2019 – Conditions & Class Action Litigation
    Geralds is also one of several Florida death-row prisoners named in a §1983 civil rights case challenging conditions and policies of the Florida Department of Corrections, though this does not affect his underlying conviction. Middle District Florida ECF+1
  • November 7, 2025 – Death Warrant Signed
    Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a death warrant for December 9, 2025, at 6 p.m. Florida news outlets and national wire services report that Geralds would be the 18th person executed in the state this year, setting a modern-era record. WUSF+5AP News+5ABC News+5
  • November 2025 – Warrant Proceedings and Waiver
    The Florida Supreme Court issues a warrant-schedule order in Mark Allen Geralds v. State of Florida, and advocacy groups highlight his case as one of three active warrants on Florida’s “death watch.” Shortly thereafter, reporting indicates that Geralds has chosen not to pursue remaining post-warrant appeals. AOL+4ACIS+4Floridians for Alternatives+4
  • As of November 19, 2025, no court has stayed or vacated his scheduled execution date in the public record. WKMG+4Wikipedia+4CBS News+4

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Roll Card | Who’s Who in the Case

  • Defendant:
    Mark Allen Geralds – Florida death row prisoner, convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, burglary, and grand theft auto in the 1989 killing of Tressa Pettibone in Bay County. WUSF+2Justia Law+2
  • Victim:
    Tressa Lynn Pettibone, 33 – Panama City Beach wife and mother, beaten and stabbed to death in her home on February 1, 1989; her body was found by her 8-year-old son. WUSF+2WUSF+2
  • Trial Court (Guilt & Penalty):
    Circuit Court, Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, Bay County, Florida – original capital trial and penalty phase (1990), plus the resentencing after the first death sentence was vacated. Justia Law+2Justia Law+2
  • Primary Appellate Courts:
    • Florida Supreme Court – multiple published opinions on direct appeal, resentencing, postconviction, and Hurst retroactivity. Supreme Court+3Justia Law+3Justia Law+3
    • U.S. Supreme Court – denied certiorari on both the resentencing and later Hurst-related petition. Justia Law+2vLex+2
    • Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals – federal habeas decision in 2021, Mark Allen Geralds v. Attorney General, State of Florida. Justia Law+1
  • Death Warrant & Waiver:
    • Warrant: Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on November 7, 2025, setting an execution date of December 9, 2025 at 6 p.m. ET. WUSF+2AP News+2
    • Waiver: Bay County Circuit Judge Timothy Register found Geralds competent and accepted his decision to waive further warrant-stage appeals. WUSF+1

Docket Map | Proceedings (Condensed)

Florida Supreme Court | Direct Appeal (Conviction Affirmed, New Penalty Phase Ordered)

Florida Supreme Court – Resentencing Appeal (Death Reimposed)

  • 1996 – Geralds II (Death Sentence Affirmed on Resentencing)
    Geralds v. State, 674 So. 2d 96 (Fla. 1996) – Jury unanimously recommends death at the new penalty phase; Florida Supreme Court affirms the reimposed death sentence; cert denied by the U.S. Supreme Court later that year. Justia Law+1

Florida Supreme Court – Postconviction & State Habeas

Federal Courts – Habeas Review

Death Warrant & Current Execution Window

Case File Extras | What the Record Shows

These are some of the “deeper cut” issues that show up once you get past the headlines:

  • Brady & Giglio Battles (Suppressed Evidence / False Testimony Claims)
    In postconviction and federal habeas, Geralds argued that prosecutors failed to disclose certain FDLE reports and misled the jury about an investigator’s confirmation of another suspect’s alibi and blood-test results. Florida’s high court and the Eleventh Circuit both concluded that, even assuming problems, the overall evidence against him remained strong enough that no constitutional violation warranted relief. Supreme Court+3vLex+3Justia Law+3
  • Mitigation & Mental Health
    The trial court acknowledged some non-statutory mitigation—divorced parents, lack of maternal affection, bipolar/antisocial traits—but gave it “very little weight” compared to the aggravators (robbery/burglary, HAC, CCP). That weighting was a centerpiece of resentencing litigation and postconviction challenges. Justia Law+2vLex+2
  • Hurst and the “Unanimous Jury” Question
    When Florida briefly opened the door for Hurst relief, Geralds tried to walk through it. The Florida Supreme Court turned him away, stressing that his resentencing jury had been 12–0 for death and that his sentence became final long before the Hurst line of cases. Supreme Court+2Justia Law+2
  • Waiving Final Appeals
    In November 2025, Bay County Circuit Judge Timothy Register held a case-management hearing where Geralds said he wanted to forgo all warrant-stage proceedings. The judge found him competent and accepted the waiver – making Geralds, like Norman Grim before him, one of the rare Florida prisoners who actively chooses not to fight an active warrant. WUSF+2WUSF+2
  • Advocacy Lens: Counsel, Veterans, and Warrant Politics
    Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty flags Geralds’ case as part of a cluster of 2025 warrants that, they argue, highlight problems with access to state postconviction counsel and the politics of rapid-fire warrants—especially for military veterans on death row. fadp.org+2fadp.org+2

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