A man convicted of killing a grocery store owner during a robbery is set to become Florida’s second execution of 2026 under a death warrant signed Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed off on a record 19 executions last year.
Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Feb. 24 at Florida State Prison. DeSantis, a Republican, oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.
After taking a break for January, Florida appears to be resuming its pattern of two executions a month, which it maintained from May to December last year. Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, is scheduled to die on Feb. 10, two weeks before Trotter.
Trotter was initially convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987. The Florida Supreme Court found that the trial court erred in handling the aggravating factors of his case and ordered a new sentencing. Trotter was resentenced to death in 1993.
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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
