Starke – A Florida man convicted of murdering a Miami Herald employee who was accused of the lunch break was executed Tuesday evening.
Michael Tanji was declared to have died at 6:12pm after three drug injections at the Florida State Jail for the stranglehold of Janet Acosta in April 2000.
Acosta, a newspaper production worker, was attacked, beaten, stolen with her van, relegated to Florida keys, strangled, and her body left to the island.
In his final statement, where his voice was barely heard, Tanji said, “I want to apologize to my family,” and then recited a poem from the Bible.
After that, when I administered the drug, Tanji’s breasts became heavy for about three minutes and stopped. The corrections officer shook him with his shoulders and yelled his name twice to determine if he was still conscious. There was no response just before 48-year-old Tanji was declared dead.
Tanji was a third party executed in Florida this year. Another fatal injection is scheduled for May 1 under a death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Court records show Acosta was on a break when he was attacked on April 25, 2000. When Tanji approached her and asked for a cigarette, she was reading a book in her van, then punched her in her face and put her in a record state.
“His wrists are clutching her and threatening her with a razor blade,” Tanji drove to Homestead, south of Miami, where he stopped at a gas station, tied up Acosta and spitted out a monkey agged. Prosecutors said he received $53 in cash from her and along with her bank card.
They then headed to Tavernier, the town of Florida Keys, where records show that Tanji used Acosta’s bank card to steal money from her account. They then stopped at the hardware store where Tanji bought duct tape and a razor blade, records show.
“He drove into isolated areas of Cudjoe Key and began strangle her by telling her that she was trying to kill her,” according to a summary of the state’s Capital Committee. “He tried to keep her quiet, stopping to place duct tape over her mouth, nose and eyes, strangle her until she lapsed.”
Elsewhere, Acosta’s friends and colleagues reported that she went missing when she didn’t return from the break. It led the police to her van, and Tanji was heading towards Key West. Police said Tanji confessed the crime and showed investigators a remote location in Cajou Key, more than 140 miles southwest of Miami.
“If I let her go, I would have been caught sooner,” Tanji told the officers, according to court records. “I didn’t want to catch you. I had so much fun… I told her, I said, “I can’t let you go. If I let you go, I’m going to get into a lot of trouble.”
Tanji was later convicted of first-degree murder, carjacking, tricking and armed robbery. The ju judge recommended a death sentence with a 12-0 vote.
Want to break news in your inbox?
Subscribe to our free newsletter
You will receive real-time updates on major issues and events from Tampa Bay and beyond.
You’re all signed up!
Want more free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Check out all options
Tansy had filed several appeals without success, including a request for the final day of execution that was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday without comment.
The Florida Supreme Court recently rejected his argument that he should not be executed because he was “mobidly obese” and had sciatica. The court held that his appeal was not timely as his terms have been known since 2009.
Two other executions took place in Florida earlier this year. Edward James, 63, received a fatal injection on March 20th after killing an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother on the night of heavy drinking and drug use. James Dennis Ford, 64, was executed on February 13 after killing the couple on a remote Florida farm in an attack witnessed by a toddler of a couple.
Eight other eight others have been executed in the United States so far in 2025. Two are in South Carolina, and one is each in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and Oklahoma. One of the South Carolina executions uses a shooting squad, with another shooting squad scheduled for Friday. Approximately 12 other executions have already been scheduled nationwide.
The nonprofit death penalty information center said Florida is using three-drug cocktails for deadly injections: sedatives, paralytics, and heart-stopping drugs.
On Tuesday, prison officials said Tanji woke up at 4:45am, serving as the sole visitor, receiving his final meal, including pork chops, bacon, ice cream and a candy bar.
Associated Press, by Curt Anderson
