Florida executes second inmate this year for 1986 grocery store killing

Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed Tuesday for the June 1986 stabbing and strangling death of Virgie Langford, a 70-year-old grocery store owner in Palmetto near Tampa Bay. The execution at Florida State Prison near Starke marks the state’s second execution in 2026 and continues Florida’s acceleration of capital punishment, which carried out 19 executions last year—more than any other state and the most in a single year since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The execution underscores Florida’s exceptional execution pace under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Justice Sonia Sotomayor flagged concerns about whether the state can consistently administer lethal drugs without heightening the risk of a “mangled” execution in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Execution Details

Melvin Trotter was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. The execution chamber curtain rose at 6 p.m. as scheduled. Trotter declined to provide a final statement and the drugs began flowing about two minutes later. He began breathing heavily and twitching approximately one minute afterward. His movements slowed about two minutes later. A medic was called at 6:14 p.m. to check his vital signs, and he was declared dead one minute later.

Trotter had not met with a spiritual adviser earlier in the day. He was 65 years old.

The 1986 Crime

According to court records, Trotter stabbed and strangled Langford on June 16, 1986, at her store in Palmetto, near the southern edge of Tampa Bay.

A truck driver discovered Langford bleeding but alive on the back floor of the store. Before dying at a hospital, she identified her attacker, recalling his physical appearance and noting he wore a Tropicana employee badge with the name “Melvin” on it.

Police later found a T-shirt bearing Langford’s blood type at Trotter’s home and recovered his handprint from a meat cooler at the store.

Trial and Conviction

Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder in 1987 and sentenced to death. After the Florida Supreme Court found the trial court erred in handling aggravating factors, he was resentenced to death in 1993.

Trotter’s attorneys argued that Florida officials had mismanaged death penalty protocols. They also contended that his advanced age of 65 merited exempting him from execution.

The Florida Supreme Court denied appeals to block the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal Tuesday afternoon.

Florida’s Execution Pace

Trotter’s execution is Florida’s second in 2026. The first came February 10, when Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was executed for the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.

Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025 under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, more than any Florida governor since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The previous state record was 8 executions in 2014.

Two more Florida executions are scheduled: Billy Leon Kearse on March 3 and Michael Lee King on March 17.

National Context and Protocol Concerns

A total of 47 people were executed in the United States in 2025. Florida led the nation. Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas tied for second with 5 executions each. Texas and Oklahoma have conducted one execution each so far in 2026.

All Florida executions are carried out by injecting a sedative, a paralytic drug, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor raised questions about the state’s administration of lethal drugs. Trotter’s attorneys had argued that Florida could “maladminister” its execution protocol in a way that heightens the risk of a “mangled” execution in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Sotomayor wrote that she hopes Florida “will recognize the paramount importance of ensuring that it conducts executions consistently” with proper protocols.