STARKE, Fla. \u2014 A man convicted of killing a grocery store owner during a robbery is set to be executed on Tuesday evening, becoming the second person executed in Florida this year.<\/p>\n
Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. <\/p>\n
Trotter was initially convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987.<\/p>\n
Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke.<\/p>\n
However, the Florida Supreme Court found the trial court had erred in handling aggravating factors in Trotter\u2019s case and ordered a new sentencing, and Trotter again drew the death penalty in 1993.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s planned execution and another earlier this month in Florida follow a\u00a0record 19 executions in the state last year. <\/p>\n
In 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976. <\/p>\n
The previous Florida record was eight executions in 2014.<\/p>\n
According to court records, Trotter strangled and stabbed Virgie Langford at her store in Palmetto in 1986. A truck driver found Langford alive after the attack, and she was able to describe her attacker before eventually dying at a hospital.<\/p>\n
Besides recalling Trotter\u2019s physical appearance, Langford said her attacker had a Tropicana employee badge with the name \u201cMelvin\u201d on it. According to court records, police later found a T-shirt with Langford\u2019s blood type at Trotter\u2019s home and the man\u2019s handprint on a meat cooler at the grocery store.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s planned execution and another earlier this month in Florida follow a\u00a0record 19 executions in the state last year, according to reports. AP<\/p>\n
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Trotter. His attorneys had argued that Florida corrections officials had mismanaged their own death penalty protocols. Attorneys also argued that Trotter\u2019s advanced age of 65 should exempt him from execution.<\/p>\n
Trotter\u2019s final appeals were still pending Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n