Man who stabbed worker to death to be second person executed in Florida this year

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Melvin Trotter, 65, is about to turn out to be the second particular person executed in Florida this yr, with a three-drug injection scheduled for six p.m. on Tuesday at Florida State Jail close to Starke. Trotter was convicted of the 1986 homicide of grocery retailer proprietor Virgie Langford.

He was initially sentenced to loss of life in 1987, however the Florida Supreme Court docket ordered a brand new sentencing in 1993 after discovering errors in how aggravating elements have been dealt with, resulting in him once more receiving the loss of life penalty.

This execution follows a file 19 in Florida final yr. Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw extra executions in 2023 than every other Florida governor for the reason that loss of life penalty was reinstated within the US in 1976, exceeding the earlier excessive of eight in 2014.

Court docket information state Trotter strangled and stabbed Ms Langford at her retailer in Palmetto. A truck driver found her alive after the assault, and she or he was in a position to describe her assailant earlier than ultimately dying at a hospital.

Apart from recalling Trotter’s bodily look, Langford mentioned her attacker had a Tropicana worker badge with the identify “Melvin” on it. In line with courtroom information, police later discovered a T-shirt with Langford’s blood sort at Trotter’s house and the person’s handprint on a meat cooler on the grocery retailer.

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Final week, the Florida Supreme Court docket denied appeals filed by Trotter. His attorneys had argued that Florida corrections officers had mismanaged its personal loss of life penalty protocols. Attorneys additionally argued that Trotter’s superior age of 65 ought to exempt him from execution.

Trotter’s remaining appeals have been nonetheless pending Tuesday earlier than the U.S. Supreme Court docket.

A complete of 47 individuals have been executed within the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the best way with a flurry of loss of life warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with 5 executions every final yr.

Thus far this yr, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida have carried out one execution every.

On Feb. 10, a person convicted of killing a touring salesperson who he and his brother had met at a bar turn out to be the primary particular person executed in Florida this yr. Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was convicted of first-degree homicide and different fees within the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.

Two extra Florida executions have already been scheduled for subsequent month: Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to obtain a deadly injection on March 3, and Michael Lee King, 54, on March 17.

All Florida executions are carried out by injecting a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the guts, in keeping with the Division of Corrections.