Florida sets execution date for man convicted of killing a grocery store owner

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — 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.

According to court records, Trotter strangled and stabbed Virgie Langford in 1986 at her store in Palmetto. A truck driver found Langford alive after the attack, and she was able to describe her attacker before eventually dying at a hospital.

Besides Trotter’s physical appearance, Langford described the attacker’s Tropicana employee badge with the name “Melvin” on it. According to court records, police later found a T-shirt with Langford’s blood type at Trotter’s home and Trotter’s handprint on a meat cooler at the grocery store.

Attorneys for Trotter are expected to file appeals to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Forty-seven people were executed in the U.S. in 2025, the highest total since 2009. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis.