Florida sets up a third execution in 2026 as state leads U.S. death penalty surge

This undated photo shows Billy Leon Kearse. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop is set to be Florida’s third execution of 2026, keeping the state on pace to match or possibly exceed last year’s record 19 executions.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Thursday for Billy Leon Kearse, 53, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection March 3 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.

Two executions have already been scheduled for next month. Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, is scheduled to die on Feb. 10, and the execution of Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled for Feb. 24, exactly one week before Kearse.

Kearse was initially sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm. The Florida Supreme Court found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing. Kearse was resentenced to death in 1997.

According to court records, Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. When Kearse couldn’t produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him.

A struggle ensued, and Kearse grabbed Parrish’s sidearm, prosecutors said. Kearse fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor. A nearby taxi driver heard the shots and used Parrish’s radio to call for help.

Parrish was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died from the gunshot wounds, officials said. Meanwhile, police used license plate information that Parrish had called in before approaching Kearse to identify the attacker’s vehicle and home address, where Kearse was arrested.

Attorneys for Kearse 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.

DeSantis explained the unprecedented number of executions last year by saying his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for the death sentences to be carried out.

“Some of these crimes were committed in the ’80s,” the governor said. “Justice delayed is justice denied. I felt I owed it to them to make sure this ran very smoothly. If I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger.”

Florida executions are all conducted via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

The Associated Press