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A man found guilty of murdering a grocery store owner in the Tampa Bay area during a robbery is slated to be the second person executed in Florida in 2026.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Following a death warrant endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, a man convicted of a grocery store owner’s homicide during a robbery is poised for execution. DeSantis, who authorized a record 19 executions last year, has now set the stage for Florida’s second execution of 2026.
Melvin Trotter, aged 65, is scheduled to face lethal injection on February 24 at Florida State Prison. Under DeSantis, a Republican, Florida executed more individuals in 2025 than any governor since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976, surpassing the previous high of eight executions in 2014.
After a pause in January, Florida seems to be resuming its practice of conducting two executions monthly, a pattern observed from May to December the previous year. Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, is set to be executed on February 10, two weeks ahead of Trotter.
Trotter was first convicted of first-degree murder in 1987 and sentenced to death. However, the Florida Supreme Court identified errors in how the trial court handled the case’s aggravating factors, necessitating a resentencing. In 1993, Trotter was once again sentenced to death.
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.
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