Florida woman who survived parents' murders as toddler reveals 'missing piece' after killer's execution
A Florida killer who fatally shot a newlywed couple in front of their toddler nearly three decades ago finally faced justice last week in the state's first execution of the year. The couple's surviving daughter has spoken out as an adult about her childhood memories connected to the horrific crimes.
James D. Ford, 64, was executed via lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Feb. 13 for the murders of Greg Malnory, 25, and his wife Kimberly, 26, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant on Jan. 10.
"I feel like I missed out on a lot of love …that love from my mom and dad," Maranda Malnory, who witnessed her parents' murders as a 22-month-old, told Fox News Digital in an interview after the execution.
"I don't want to say it was closure because it's not closure, but it's peace of mind knowing that he could never, ever get out and come find me… I'm the sole survivor."
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On a Sunday morning in the spring of 1997, Greg and Kimberly Malnory set out to go fishing at South Florida Sod Farm, where Greg worked, along with Maranda, who was 22 months old at the time.
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The couple's deceased bodies were discovered the following day, April 7, 1997, near their pickup truck in the middle of a field on the remote 7,000-acre farm. Authorities found Maranda strapped inside her car seat in the truck, having survived the attack, according to court records.
"Poor Maranda, just left there to die. It was actually divine intervention that she survived," Greg's mother, Connie Ankney, previously told Fox News Digital. "The angels must have been with her."
Now 29 years old, Maranda does not have any memory of the attack itself, but she remembers the exact moment she first learned the harrowing details of the case.
During her early years of childhood being raised by her grandparents, Maranda was unaware of the circumstances surrounding her parents' deaths until she decided to take matters into her own hands.
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"I was 13 years old…it was around the time of the anniversary of their murders. I was on my computer…and I Googled it. I Googled every detail I could find," she said. "Because I didn't know how to ask…it was heartbreaking."
Investigators on the case discovered that Greg Malnory had been shot in the head and bludgeoned with his throat slit, and Kimberly Malnory had been sexually assaulted, brutally beaten and then shot dead, according to court records.
Maranda had been in the vehicle for over 18 hours with the doors wide open and covered in her mother's blood.
"I didn't realize the extent of it until I read it," Maranda said about researching the crimes as a teenager. "I broke down because I came from two fighters. My mom put up a fight, and so did my dad."
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Authorities said that while Ford was attacking Greg, Kimberly was doing everything she could to save her daughter, which explained the presence of Kimberly's blood on the child's clothing.
Defensive wounds were found on the backs of Kim's arms, which indicated that she put up a struggle, according to court records.
"I honestly think had she been able to find my dad's truck keys, she would have went to get help," Maranda said. "That's why I was in my car seat… she was going to get help having seen what happened to my dad."
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During their investigation, law enforcement learned that Ford had been seen with the victims in the area of the crime just before the killings, and then he was later seen the same evening "in a distracted state with blood on his face, hands, and clothes," according to court documents. Ford was also observed the day after the murders with scratches on his body.
Maranda explained that Ford, who had been Greg's co-worker at the Charlotte County farm, invited himself to their family outing that day.
"It kind of leaves me speechless," she said. "That much hatred… for people that you had worked with and people that you know."
Greg Malnory's DNA was discovered on a knife in Ford's bedroom, Kimberly's DNA was located in Ford's truck, and Ford's DNA was found on Kimberly's body and clothing, court records show.
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"It wasn't until I was an adult that it got a little easier for me to ask questions…and ask about the day it happened," Maranda said.
As she began to learn more about the case, she recognized that her "close-knit" community was the reason she and her parents were found as soon as they were in the middle of the field on the remote farm.
"That in of itself, if you ask me, is… I don't want to call it a miracle, but it is," Maranda said.
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Authorities said that an employee of the South Florida Sod Farm had been the one to initially make the "gruesome discovery" in April 1997, according to court records.
As an adult, Maranda had the opportunity to connect with the man who found her as a toddler and chose to speak with him directly.
"I said, 'Thank you for finding us,'" she shared. "And he was like, 'Thank you for being such a strong, resilient little girl that I was able to find.'"
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Greg and Kimberly Malnory met in high school, and they had married just six months prior to their deaths. Greg's mother previously said that their chance to be parents had been taken away too soon.
"I think about them every day. I have their names tattooed on my wrist," Maranda said. "They're my heroes… I honestly think that I wouldn't be here had it not been for them."
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The 29-year-old said she keeps a picture of her parents holding her as a baby, which was taken the weekend before the killings, on her desk to this day.
"You mourn the people that they were," Maranda recalled telling her grandparents, "I mourn what could have been."
"It's that missing piece" she added. "I so wish I could have gotten to know them… I love hearing stories about them because, in my way, it is getting to know them."
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Maranda today works in special education with children and strives to give back to her community.
"I can do my part because of things that were done for me," she explained. "Our community rallied around us, even with the execution. Even now, it's still, 'We're here for you…we never forgot you…we're still here.'"
Ford was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, sexual battery with a firearm, and child abuse, and he was sentenced to death on June 3, 1999. His execution in Florida in 2025 followed one in the state in 2024 and six in 2023.
"It impacts me in some big ways and some little ways," Maranda said about the case. "I'm terrified of the dark and loud noises…but I also think it makes me fight a little harder… I fight every day to show him that he doesn't get to win."Original article source: Florida woman who survived parents' murders as toddler reveals 'missing piece' after killer's execution
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