Executions

Opponents of the death penalty say Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has more authority than other states' top officials in approving death warrants, a factor driving the high number of executions.

A 53-year-old Florida man has been executed for the murder of his girlfriend’s infant daughter in 1996. Andrew Richard Lukehart was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. after receiving a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Under Ricky Dixon's leadership, Florida executed 32 people, most of them last year.

Dusty Ray Spencer, who was found guilty in the beating death of his wife, Karen, is scheduled to die June 25. The next Florida execution scheduled is for Andrew Lukehart on Tuesday.

Richard Knight was convicted of murder in the June 2002 killings of Odessia Stephens and her young daughter, Hanessia Mullings.

The majority of the court agreed to the stay as James Aren Duckett awaits postconviction DNA testing.

Michael Lee King shot his neighbor in the face and burned her alive in 2008, court records say. The case led to the passing of the Denise Amber Lee Act, which provides better training for 911 operators.

Moments before receiving a lethal injection, Billy Kearse asked for forgiveness from the family of Danny Parrish, whose widow said she found peace after a "long, long 35 years.”

James Aren Duckett, 68, is scheduled to be put to death on March 31, 2026.

Melvin Trotter was found guilty of the fatal stabbing of the woman in Palmetto in 1986.

Florida executed the condemned killer, Ronald Heath, on Tuesday after he spent nearly four decades on Death Row. He was twice convicted of separate murders 12 years apart, and identified as the suspect in a third murder case that never went to trial.

Ronald Palmer Heath was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and other charges in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.