ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The fifth execution in Florida this year was carried out Thursday evening.

James Barnes faced the death penalty for the murder of Patricia Miller, a nurse. He also served time for the death of his wife.

Members of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) held a vigil Thursday evening to protest that execution. They were one of a number of groups protesting Thursday.

"He confessed to a murder while he was serving life in prison," said FADP's John Stewart, who has been following the case and fighting against the death penalty for more than 20 years.

"The death penalty does not reduce the murder rate, it’s hugely expensive and it just continues killing," he said. "We are opposing that."

"Executions are not pro-life and capital punishment, those without the capitol get the punishment," Stewart said. "We’re trying to approach all sorts of arguments against the death penalty."

"We’ll keep fighting,” he added.

Barnes confessed to killing his estranged wife in 1997, court records show, and was executed Thursday for the brutal 1988 murder of another woman, Patricia “Patsy” Miller, inside her Melbourne condominium. Barnes was 61 when he was pronounced dead Thursday evening.