Florida's second execution of 2026 scheduled for February

Florida’s second execution of 2026, a man convicted of killing a grocery story owner, will take place in February.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant Jan. 23 for Melvin Trotter, 65, to die by lethal injection Feb. 24.

Florida's first execution will take place just a few weeks earlier when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to die Feb. 10.

Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987 for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford a year earlier in Palmetto.

The Florida Supreme Court awarded Trotter a resentencing after it was found the court mishandled aggravating factors of his case. He was sentenced to death a second time in 1993.

Appeals are expected to be filed on Trotter’s behalf.

Florida led the nation in executions in 2025

Florida set a record for executions in 2025 with DeSantis signing 19 death warrants leading to executions.

Florida’s final execution of 2025 was Dec. 18 when Frank Athen Walls died by lethal injection after he was convicted of fatally shooting two people during a home robbery.

Walls’ execution was the 19th of the year, which set a record for Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Florida’s previous record for executions in a year was eight in both 1984 and 2014.

There are currently 251 inmates on death row in Florida, according to state records. Nationally, 47 people were executed in 2025.

Source: USA Today, Michelle Spitzer, January 23, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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