Zane Floyd

Zane Floyd
Mugshot of Zane Floyd
Born
Zane Michael Floyd

(1975-09-20) September 20, 1975[1]
Estes Park, Colorado, U.S.[2]
EducationFaith Lutheran Middle School & High School
ConvictionsFirst degree murder with a deadly weapon (4 counts)
Attempted murder with a deadly weapon
First degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon
Sexual assault with a deadly weapon (4 counts)
Burglary while in possession of a firearm
Criminal penalty
Death
Details
DateJune 3, 1999
LocationsLas Vegas, Nevada
Killed4
Injured1 (Zachary Emenegger)
WeaponsMossberg 500 Cruiser 12-gauge 8-shot pump-action shotgun[3]
Imprisoned atHigh Desert State Prison[4]

Zane Michael Floyd (born September 20, 1975)[1] is an American convicted mass murderer who, at the age of 23, killed four people and injured a fifth in a supermarket in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 3, 1999. After being convicted of the murders, Floyd was sentenced to death by a Clark County jury.

Background

After attending high school, Floyd enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1994.[5] He was honorably discharged in July 1998 with the rank of lance corporal due to heavy drinking and was told he was not welcome to re-enlist.[6][7] Floyd later said that he joined the Marines with the sole and explicit purpose of killing people abroad.[8]

Before the shooting that led to his conviction, he worked as a security guard and part-time as a bouncer at a bar.[9] Days before the crime, he was fired from his security officer job and evicted from his apartment, moving back into a room at his parents' home. According to testimony during the penalty phase of his trial, Floyd may have suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome.[9][10]

The massacre

On June 3, 1999, at approximately 5:15 in the morning, Floyd entered an Albertson's supermarket located at 3864 West Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas and opened fire on random individuals in the store using a shotgun.[11][12]

Floyd first shot 40-year-old worker Thomas Darnell in the back, killing him.[11] Immediately after, he also shot and killed 41-year-old store manager Carlos Chuck Leos in the face and neck, and 31-year-old worker Dennis Troy Sargent in the chest.[11][13] Floyd then encountered 21-year-old worker Zachary T. Emenegger, who fled from Floyd when he saw the gunman pointing the shotgun in his direction,[11][14][15][16] beginning a sequence of near-death encounters with the gunman. Diving under a produce table, Emenegger avoided Floyd's gunfire for 15 seconds but ultimately was shot in the upper-chest region resulting in a punctured lung. Floyd then saw Emenegger move and shot him again. Emenegger then played dead. Believing his victim was dead, Floyd whispered, "Yeah, you're dead," and continued searching the store. Eventually, Floyd found 60-year-old clerk Lucille Alice Tarantino in the rear of the store and fatally shot her in the head at point-blank range. After his later arrest, Floyd stated: “I looked right at her, and I just, I just, just blew her head apart.”[17] Thinking that Floyd was gone, Emenegger attempted to get up and go for help but collapsed back onto the ground. Floyd initially walked past Emenegger's motionless body and started to leave the store but abruptly stopped and doubled back to ensure Emenegger was dead. After watching for a moment, Floyd finally fled from the store. In total, Floyd had shot seven shotgun shells in seven minutes, killing four people and critically wounding Emenegger.

It later emerged that shortly before the shooting, Floyd had telephoned an escort agency and called for the services of a young woman at his apartment.[11][18] When a 20-year-old woman arrived at the apartment at around 3:30 am, Floyd, threatened her with a shotgun and raped her. He eventually told her she had 60 seconds to run or be killed. After she escaped, Floyd took his shotgun and began walking to the supermarket at around 5:00 am.[11]

Arrest

Floyd left through the supermarket's north doors to meet the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, who had been called by an employee who had been upstairs and believed there was a robbery in progress.[19] Without exchanging any gunfire, Floyd ran back into the supermarket and left through the west doors, hoping to avoid the police outside. When he noticed officers surrounding the complex, Floyd threatened to kill himself, pointing the shotgun to his head. After an eight-minute standoff, police convinced him to surrender. They immediately arrested him on charges of murder.

When questioned by police, Floyd confessed to the killings and said he committed the murders since he had always wanted to know what it was like to kill someone, stating: "I've always just wanted to know, call me crazy, psychotic, whatever, I've just always wanted to know what it's like to shoot someone ... ever since I was a little kid, I've always, you know, every since I saw my first, my first war movies, I've always just wanted to go to war and kill people,".[20][21]

Trial

Jurors at Floyd's trial heard his confession and watched the video from store surveillance cameras. Floyd did not testify at the three-day trial, where Emenegger testified against him.[22] On July 13, 2000, after deliberating for little more than two hours,[22] the jury convicted him of four counts of first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, four counts of sexual assault with use of a deadly weapon, and single counts of burglary while in possession of a firearm, attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, and first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon.[23][24]

The jury rendered a sentence of death for each count of murder, finding that the aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances. For the other seven offenses, the district court imposed the maximum terms in prison, to be served consecutively. The court also ordered restitution totaling more than 180,000 dollars.[24][25]

Appeals and postconviction proceedings

Floyd filed a direct appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court, which affirmed his conviction and sentence in March 2002.[26] In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari.[27] Floyd subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the state district court. The petition was denied, and the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the denial on appeal.[28]

Floyd then filed a pro se habeas petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, challenging his conviction and death sentence. The court stayed federal proceedings pending exhaustion of certain claims in state court, prompting Floyd to file a second state habeas petition in state district court. The state district court denied relief in April 2009. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed that Floyd's second petition was untimely and successive.[29] The U.S. District Court lifted the stay in March 2011. Floyd filed a second amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In December 2014, the U.S. District Court partially granted the State's motion to dismiss and denied Floyd's remaining claims on the merits; however, it allowed an appeal as to several issues.[30]

Consequently, Floyd appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In October 2019, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Floyd's habeas petition.[31] In July 2020, he filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging the Ninth Circuit's application of the Strickland standard.[32] That petition was denied in November 2020.[33]

First execution warrant

In April 2021, the Clark County District Attorney began seeking an order of execution for Floyd on the grounds that Floyd had exhausted his legal remedies. A state court judge granted the order with the execution scheduled for the week of July 26, 2021, via lethal injection.[34] However, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction and stayed the execution to give Floyd more time to "adequately investigate and review [Nevada's] new execution protocol", which "would involve multiple variations of an untested sequence of drugs".[35][36]

Floyd separately filed petitions with the Nevada Supreme Court, one alleging separation-of-powers violations by the district attorney's office,[37] another challenging the authority and jurisdiction of the particular department of the state district court to issue an order of execution,[38] and a third challenging the specific prison in which he was supposed to be executed.[39] The court eventually dismissed all three petitions. Floyd also filed a complaint against the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), in which he alleged that Nevada's statute providing that an execution must be effectuated by "injection of a lethal drug" unconstitutionally delegates lawmaking authority to the NDOC and its director, because the statute gives the director discretion to determine the process by which a lethal injection is administered. In January 2022, the district court dismissed Floyd's complaint; on appeal, the Nevada Supreme Court later affirmed.[40] In addition, Floyd filed a third postconviction habeas petition in the district court. In March 2022, the petition was denied as procedurally barred; on appeal, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed.[41]

In February 2022, Clark County prosecutors acknowledged in court that they could not satisfy the legal requirements to obtain a new death warrant in time to carry out the execution before the state's supply of ketamine, one of the drugs used in lethal injections in Nevada, was due to expire on February 28.[42] According to media reports at the time, it was uncertain whether and when the state would be able to obtain a new supply of ketamine.[42][43]

Request for second execution warrant

In May 2026, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office requested a new execution warrant for Floyd, proposing that the execution take place during the week of September 14, 2026.[4] Some observers questioned the feasibility of this timeline as the NDOC acknowledged in a court filing that it was "not currently in possession of any unexpired medication for the drugs in the current execution protocol”, adding that previously obtained drugs had expired and that the prison system would not use the expired medication.[44][45] On July 15, 2026, prosecutors announced that the parties would stipulate to stay the proceedings until the Nevada Supreme Court resolves two pending appeals by Floyd.[46] In one of the cases,[47] Floyd argues that it is unconstitutional for the Nevada Board of Pardons Commissioners to deny capital inmates access to clemency; in the other,[48] he claims that Nevada’s execution manual is an invalid regulation. The district court denied the relief sought by Floyd in both cases, and Floyd subsequently appealed. An assistant district attorney justified the decision to pause the execution warrant request for Floyd and another death row inmate, stating that "this will be one thing where we can have them finish this litigation and then really, we believe, there can’t possibly be anything further that they could argue to delay this".[46]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Nevada Offender Tracking Information System". doc.nv.gov. September 20, 1975. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Drugs, abuse and a drive to kill: Zane Floyd's path to Nevada death row limbo". thenevadaindependent.com. February 27, 2022.
  3. ↑ Rainey, James; Boxall, Bettina (June 4, 1999). "Man Kills 4 in Shotgun Rampage". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Brigham, Noble (May 5, 2026). "Prosecutors want 2 Nevada death row inmates executed this year". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on July 16, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Parents stand by son accused in grocery store shooting". Las Vegas Sun. July 7, 2000. Archived from the original on December 7, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Suspect details grisly fantasies". Las Vegas Review-Journal. January 8, 2000. Archived from the original on August 31, 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ Willis, Stacy J.; Padgett, Sonya (June 4, 1999). "Floyd described as sweet guy with violent streak". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  8. ↑ Gang, Bill (January 10, 2000). "Prosecutors: Floyd planned to commit suicide". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Macy, Robert (June 3, 1999). "Supermarket rampage leaves four dead, one critical". The Associated Press.
  10. ↑ "Drugs, abuse and a drive to kill: Zane Floyd's path to Nevada death row limbo". The Nevada Independent. February 27, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Floyd v. State, 118 Nev. 156, 42 P.3d 249, at 253 (2002) (per curiam).
  12. ↑ Puit, Glenn (June 4, 1999). "Motive in rampage sought". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on August 26, 1999.
  13. ↑ "Floyd v. Baker". vLex. Archived from the original on January 8, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  14. ↑ "TRUST FUND SET IN WAKE OF SLAYINGS".
  15. ↑ Smith, Kim (July 18, 2000). "Victims' families recall massacre". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  16. ↑ Ferrara, David (August 10, 2021). "Lawyers for death row inmate Zane Floyd reveal clemency request". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  17. ↑ "The Brutal Reality "Killer Coddlers" Don't Want You to Remember - Southern Hills Republican Women". Southern Hills Republican Women. April 1, 2021. Archived from the original on January 13, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  18. ↑ Macy, Robert (June 6, 1999). "Alleged supermarket shooter suspected of raping escort service employee". The Associated Press State & Local Wire.
  19. ↑ MSNBC show "Caught on Camera"
  20. ↑ Snedeker, Lisa (August 31, 2000). "Judge sentences killer to death in supermarket shootings". The Associated Press State & Local Wire.
  21. ↑ Smith, Kim (July 21, 2000). "Jury sentences Zane Floyd to death". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved June 18, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  22. 1 2 Wagner, Angie (July 13, 2000). "Former Marine guilty of grocery store killings". The Associated Press State & Local Wire.
  23. ↑ "Jurors decide Floyd must pay with his life". Las Vegas Review-Journal. July 22, 2000. Archived from the original on July 8, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  24. 1 2 See Floyd v. State, 118 Nev. 156, 42 P.3d 249, at 254 (2002) (per curiam).
  25. ↑ "Judge Sentences Floyd". KLAS. August 31, 2000. Archived from the original on September 1, 2000.
  26. ↑ Floyd v. State, 118 Nev. 156, 42 P.3d 249 (2002) (per curiam).
  27. ↑ Floyd v. Nevada, 537 U.S. 1196 (2003) (denying certiorari).
  28. ↑ Floyd v. State, 122 Nev. 1673, 178 P.3d 754 (2006).
  29. ↑ Floyd v. State, 126 Nev. 711, 367 P.3d 769 (2010).
  30. ↑ Floyd v. Baker, 2014 WL 7240069 (D. Nev. 2014).
  31. ↑ Floyd v. Filson, 940 F.3d 1082 (9th Cir. 2019), opinion amended on denial of rehearing, 949 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. 2020).
  32. ↑ Floyd v. Gittere, Warden, et al., No. 19-8921.
  33. ↑ Floyd v. Gittere, Warden, et al., 590 U.S. 912 (2020) (denying certiorari).
  34. ↑ Ferrara, David (June 7, 2021). "Judge agrees to issue order for Zane Floyd to be executed in July". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  35. ↑ Floyd v. Daniels, No. 3:21-cv-00176-RFB-CLB, 2021 WL 2827291, at *6 (D. Nev. 2021), appeal dismissed as moot, No. 21-16134, 2021 WL 5406851 (9th Cir. 2021).
  36. ↑ Ferrara, David (June 28, 2021). "Judge issues stay of execution for quadruple killer Zane Floyd". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  37. ↑ Floyd v. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct. in & for Cnty. of Clark, 500 P.3d 598 (Nev. 2021).
  38. ↑ Floyd v. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct. in & for Cnty. of Clark, 504 P.3d 1133 (Nev. 2022).
  39. ↑ Floyd v. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct. in & for Cnty. of Clark, 504 P.3d 1132 (Nev. 2022)
  40. ↑ Floyd v. Dep't of Corr., 139 Nev. 335, 536 P.3d 445 (2023).
  41. ↑ Floyd v. Gittere, 559 P.3d 1275 (Nev. 2024), cert. denied sub nom. Floyd v. Bean, 146 S. Ct. 127, 223 L. Ed. 2d 29 (2025).
  42. 1 2 "Deadline to Seek Execution of Zane Floyd Before Lethal-Injection Drugs Expire Passes in Nevada". Death Penalty Information Center. February 16, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  43. ↑ Golonka, Sean (February 14, 2022). "Zane Floyd execution on hold, key lethal drug will expire amid appeals". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  44. ↑ Brigham, Noble (May 22, 2026). "Nevada prison system says it does not have the drugs to conduct an execution". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on May 23, 2026.
  45. ↑ Wright, Jarah (May 22, 2026). "Court records: Nevada prison system doesn't have execution drugs". KTNV Channel 13. Archived from the original on May 24, 2026. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  46. 1 2 Brigham, Noble (July 15, 2026). "Prosecutors pausing execution warrant requests for two death row inmates". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on July 16, 2026.
  47. ↑ Floyd v. Nev. Bd. of Pardons Comm'rs, No. 91040 (Nevada Supreme Court filed July 29, 2025).
  48. ↑ Floyd et al. v. Dzurenda et al., No. 91586 (Nevada Supreme Court filed November 12, 2025).
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