Billy L. Kearse, 53, will be the third person put to death by the state this year, just one week after the execution of Melvin Trotter, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford in Palmetto in 1986.
The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 12 denied a motion for a stay of execution and a motion for an extension due to the fading health and death of the father of Kearse's attorney. Attorneys for Kearse have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, citing violations of the Sixth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.
Kearse's attorneys argued that his right to an impartial jury was violated after a juror made a social media post at his capital resentencing proceeding, saying how much the juror "was affected by the law enforcement presence in the courtroom.” The defense also pointed to new evidence showing Kearse was intellectually disabled.
The motions also took aim at the Florida Supreme Court, quoting Justice John Stevens from a 1983 decision when he said it had become "a rubber stamp for lower court death-penalty determinations."
Kearse will be the first of three people scheduled to be executed in March, which may be a new record.
The state's accelerated execution schedule started last year, when Gov. Ron DeSantis issued 19 death warrants, a modern-day state record for most executions in a year, more than doubling the previous record. In 2025, Florida executed four times as many inmates as any other state in the nation.
Aside from advocacy groups calling for Kearse's execution to be stayed and his sentence commuted to life in prison, questions have also arisen over Florida's execution policies. Recent Supreme Court appeals have pointed to signs of underdosing, drug substitutions, the use of expired drugs and other factors that may have led to complications and needless suffering.
The Supreme Court's decision not to stay last week's execution of Melvin Trotter included concerns from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who concurred with the decision but called the state's record "troubling" and called out Florida’s implementation of its execution protocol "and the secrecy surrounding it."
On Jan. 18, 1991, Billy Leon Kearse, then 18, was driving the wrong way on a one-way street in St. Lucie County when Parrish pulled him over, court records show.
After Kearse couldn't produce a driver’s license and gave Parrish several false aliases, Parrish ordered him out of the vehicle. Parrish then attempted to handcuff him.
Kearse struggled with the officer, prosecutors said, grabbed Parrish's weapon, and fired 14 shots. Thirteen of them struck Parrish, nine in the body and four in his bulletproof vest, according to a document from Attorney General James Uthmeier included in the Florida Supreme Court filings. Kearse fired in groups, between which Parrish begged for his life, court documents show.
Kearse got back into his dark blue 1979 Monte Carlo with the gun and fled the scene.
A taxi driver heard the shots, saw Kearse driving away, and called for help on Parrish's radio. Parrish died at the hospital from his injuries.
Police tracked Kearse down with the license plate number Parrish had called in. Kearse waived his Miranda rights and confessed to shooting Parrish during the struggle, although court documents show he "led the officers on a wild goose chase for the pistol."
One of Kearse’s companions testified during the trial that Kearse shot Officer Parrish “because his probation was suspended and the police was [sic] looking for him already.”
Kearse was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary of an occupied structure and possession of burglary tools. He was sentenced to death for the murder, life for the robbery, and 10 years for the burglary charges.
Kearse's execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, at Florida State Prison, according to documents posted Thursday on the state Supreme Court website.
There are two more executions in Florida scheduled for March:
- March 17: Michael King, 54, was convicted in the 2008 kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee of North Port that resulted in increased training for 911 operators across Florida.
- March 31: James Duckett, 68, was convicted in the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa Mae McAbee.
As of March 2, there were 250 people on death row in Florida. The stats break down to 249 men (153 White, 85 Black, 11 other) and one Black woman.
From 1924 until May 1964, the state of Florida executed 196 people. There were no executions from May 1964 until May 1976.
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, but it was reinstated in 1976. Florida has carried out 127 executions since then, 19 in 2025 alone.
Source: tallahassee.com, C. A. Bridges, March 3, 2026
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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