Florida schedules third execution of 2026 for Billy Leon Kearse

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Billy Leon Kearse, scheduling the 53-year-old to die by lethal injection March 3 at Florida State Prison, according to an Associated Press report. The warrant makes Kearse Florida’s third scheduled execution date for 2026.

The timing keeps Florida on track to match or possibly exceed last year’s record pace, when Florida carried out 19 executions, AP reported. 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, AP said.

AP reported that DeSantis’ actions came while two other executions were already set for February. Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, is scheduled to die Feb. 10, and the execution of Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled for Feb. 24—one week before Kearse.

Kearse was first sentenced to death in 1991 after prosecutors convicted him of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm, AP said. The Florida Supreme Court later ordered a new sentencing after finding that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances, according to the report. Kearse was resentenced to death in 1997.

Court records summarized by AP trace the case to a traffic stop in Fort Pierce in January 1991. Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, and when Kearse could not produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered him out of the vehicle and attempted to handcuff him, AP said.

AP reported that during a struggle, Kearse grabbed Parrish’s sidearm. Prosecutors said Kearse then fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor, and a nearby taxi driver heard the shots and used Parrish’s radio to call for help, AP said.

Parrish was rushed to a nearby hospital but died from the gunshot wounds, according to AP. AP also said 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.

AP said attorneys for Kearse are expected to file appeals to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. AP also reported that 47 people were executed in the United States in 2025, the highest total since 2009, with Florida leading the way through death warrants signed by DeSantis.

In remarks carried by AP, DeSantis said some of the crimes happened in the 1980s and framed his approach as aiming to deliver justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for executions to be carried out. AP quoted the governor as saying, “Justice delayed is justice denied,” and added, “If I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger.”

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