DeSantis Signs Death Warrants, Setting Third Florida Execution for March 3
The timetable keeps the state on a record execution pace after last year's 19.
Overview
- Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Billy Leon Kearse, 53, scheduling a March 3 lethal injection at Florida State Prison.
- Kearse was convicted of killing Fort Pierce Officer Danny Parrish during a 1991 traffic stop, with prosecutors saying he seized the officer’s gun and fired 14 shots.
- Two earlier executions are on the calendar: Ronald Palmer Heath on February 10 and Melvin Trotter on February 24.
- Heath is already seeking relief at the Florida Supreme Court, and Kearse’s attorneys are expected to file further appeals in state and federal courts.
- Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025, the most of any state since 2009 nationally, and the new warrants extend that accelerated pace.