Florida Prepares to Execute Man Convicted of Grocery Store Owner’s Murder

STARKE, Fla. – On Tuesday evening, Florida is set to carry out its second execution of the year, following the conviction of a man for the murder of a grocery store owner during a robbery.

Melvin Trotter, aged 65, is scheduled to receive a lethal three-drug cocktail at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison, located near Starke. Initially convicted of first-degree murder in 1987, Trotter’s case was revisited when the Florida Supreme Court identified errors in the trial court’s consideration of aggravating factors. A subsequent sentencing in 1993 reaffirmed his death penalty.

This scheduled execution, along with an earlier one this month, follows Florida’s record of 19 executions last year. In 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis presided over more executions in a single year than any other governor in Florida since the U.S. reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The previous record for the state was eight executions in 2014.

Court documents reveal that in 1986, Trotter strangled and stabbed Virgie Langford at her store in Palmetto. Langford, discovered by a truck driver post-attack, managed to describe her assailant before succumbing to her injuries at a hospital.

Langford identified her attacker not only by his physical features but also by a Tropicana employee badge bearing the name “Melvin.” Investigations led police to find a T-shirt with Langford’s blood type at Trotter’s residence and his handprint on a meat cooler in the grocery store.

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Trotter. His attorneys had argued that Florida corrections officials had mismanaged its own death penalty protocols. Attorneys also argued that Trotter’s advanced age of 65 should exempt him from execution.

Trotter’s final appeals were still pending Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each last year.

So far this year, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida have carried out one execution each.

On Feb. 10, a man convicted of killing a traveling salesperson who he and his brother had met at a bar become the first person executed in Florida this year. Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.

Two more Florida executions have already been scheduled for next month: Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to receive a lethal 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 heart, according to the Department of Corrections.