STARKE, Fla. -- When Florida resumed executions this summer after an 18-month moratorium, Gov. Charlie Crist wanted to sign death warrants for those convicted of the most heinous murders.

The ultimate punishment was certainly justified for Richard Henyard, who is scheduled to die Tuesday, the governor said then.

Henyard, 34, and a teenage accomplice carjacked Carol Lewis and her daughters, Jasmine, 3, and Jamilya, 7, outside a central Florida grocery store 15 years ago. He told Lewis he was Satan when she prayed for help, raped her and then shot her multiple times, but she survived. He then participated in the execution of her daughters after they cried out for their mom.

"When you look at the horrific nature of this crime, it lets you know that the penalty he will receive is certainly justified," Crist said when he signed the death warrant. It's "unimaginable that any human being could carry out such a horrendous act."

Lewis, who talks about her ordeal as a pastor and motivational speaker in the Ocala area, did not respond to e-mails or telephone calls seeking comment on Henyard's pending execution.

"My life is a testimony to the fact that victims can be victorious through the power of prayer," Lewis, now 51, wrote on a Web site, prayerforsexualtrauma.org.

Mark Gruber, one of Henyard's attorneys, filed a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, hoping to delay the execution. The Florida Supreme Court rejected all of Henyard's appeals Sept. 10, including his claim that co-defendant, 14-year-old Alfonza Smalls, was the shooter.

He also challenged Florida's lethal injection procedure, saying it is cruel and unusual punishment, pointing to a botched December 2006 that led to the moratorium. Federal and state courts have consistently rejected that claim.

Lewis and her daughters had gone to a Winn-Dixie in Eustis about 10 p.m. on Jan. 30, 1993, when they were carjacked by Henyard and Smalls.

Smalls repeatedly demanded that Lewis "shut the girls up" because they were crying.

At one point, Lewis beseeched Jesus for help and Henyard replied, "This ain't Jesus, this is Satan."

After Henyard and Smalls raped Lewis, Henyard shot her in the leg, neck, mouth and between the eyes. She was rolled off the side of the road and left for dead.

As they drove away, the girls yelled: "I want my Mommy! Mommy, Mommy!"

A short time later, the girls were taken from the car and killed with a single gunshot to the head. Their bodies were thrown over a nearby fence into some underbrush.

The day after the shooting, Henyard went to the Eustis Police Department and initially told a story implicating Smalls and another man. When police noticed bloodstains on his sock, he admitted helping abduct Lewis and her children. He also said he raped her and shot her. He said he was present when the children were shot, but did not shoot them.

Smalls, who was 14 at the time of the slayings, was too young to face execution. He was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences for the kidnapping, rape and murders.

The Florida Supreme Court, in rejecting Henyard's appeal, said he received the death penalty because of his "dominant role" and noted his conviction did not rest on him being the triggerman. The court said his arguments that he was a minor participant were "both unbelievable and without credibility."

The high court said in a 6-0 unsigned opinion that it wouldn't have made any difference who pulled the trigger.

"Considering the totality of evidence and even if Smalls was determined to be the triggerman, the death penalty would not be a disproportionate sentence for Henyard," the justices wrote. "It is not probable that this evidence, if true, would have resulted in a less severe penalty."

Florida has executed 65 inmates since the execution of John Spenkelink in 1979, 21 by lethal injection and 44 by the electric chair. Pedophile Mark Dean Schwab was executed July 1 for the 1991 slaying of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez.