![\"Ricardo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/12376_fitted.jpeg\" "\\"Ricardo")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Ricardo Gonzalez<\/p>\n
Florida Department of Corrections<\/p>\n
A Miami-Dade Death Row inmate who, along with four other men, ambushed and gunned down a North Miami police officer during a bank robbery, is scheduled to be executed soon.<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for Ricardo Gonzalez, 56, who was convicted and condemned to die for the Jan. 3, 1992, murder of Officer Steven Bauer, 39. Bauer, a father of three, grew up in North Miami and had been a police officer for 12 years.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez\u2019s execution is scheduled for Dec. 1 at Florida State Prison in Raiford.<\/p>\n
![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/288.jpg\" "\\"288.jpg\\"")
Steven Bauer Officer Down Memorial Page <\/p>\n
Bauer, who was working in uniform, was shot twice \u2014 with one of the bullets piercing his heart \u2014 during a robbery at Kislak National Bank, 13490 NW Seventh Ave. Gonzalez and four other men participated in $17,000 heist, which began around 7:50 a.m., 10 minutes before opening time, according to the Miami Herald\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n
Bauer was escorting bank tellers to their drive-in stations moments before he was gunned down.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez was convicted and sentenced to death in 1994. He received a new sentencing trial, but a second Miami-Dade jury voted to send him to Florida\u2019s Death Row, where he has remained since 1998.<\/p>\n
His execution warrant comes a week after DeSantis signed a warrant for Thomas Overton, another South Floridian on Death Row. Overton was sentenced to death for strangling third-grade teacher Susan \u201cMissy\u201d MacIvor, 29, and her husband Michael MacIvor, 30, inside their Florida Keys home.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Execution date set for killer who strangled couple inside their Florida Keys home<\/a><\/p>\n In October, DeSantis canceled the execution<\/a> of William Thompson after his attorneys raised concerns about his mental capacity, including possibly having dementia. Thompson was convicted of the brutal 1976 torture and murder of 23-year-old Sally Ivester in North Miami Beach.<\/p>\n \u2018Cold, vicious killing\u2019<\/p>\n Gonzalez, Leonardo Franqui, Pablo San Martin, Fernando Fernandez and Pablo Abreu were all involved in Bauer\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n The men methodically planned the robbery, according to the Herald archives. They stole two gray Chevrolet Caprices to confuse witnesses, cased the bank before the heist and assigned each man a role.<\/p>\n Gonzalez, and Leonardo Franqui, 56, who is on Florida\u2019s Death Row as well for the killing, shot Bauer. Abreu, 72, who will remain behind bars for the rest of his life, drove the getaway car. San Martin, 59, and Fernandez, who Florida prison records list as deceased, helped steal the cars used in the robbery. San Martin and Fernandez were sentenced to life for Bauer\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n San Martin was also tasked with grabbing the cash tray, which contained $17,000.<\/p>\n Franqui shot Bauer with a 9mm handgun. Gonzalez fired the fatal bullet from a .357 pistol. The bullet struck Bauer in the neck and traveled into his heart. Police later recovered the firearms in the bottom of a muddy canal at Northwest 10th Street and 18th Avenue.<\/p>\n After their arrests, the men gave detectives a detailed confession, saying they confronted Bauer as he escorted the tellers, who were carrying money to their drive-in posts.<\/p>\n Bauer, according to the tellers, was singing a Christian hymn moments before he was shot. He had been teasing the tellers, telling them, \u201cYou girls are going to be busy today.\u201d<\/p>\n Suddenly, the men attacked Bauer. He tried to grab his gun, but Gonzalez and Franqui fired at him first.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficer Bauer did not stand a chance,\u201d North Miami Police Chief Kenneth Each said at the time, according to the Herald\u2019s coverage. \u201cIt\u2019s a cold, vicious killing. Totally, totally premeditated.\u201d<\/p>\n After the shooting, the tellers rushed over to the officer, who was lying in a pool of blood. Even as he was dying, they said, the first thing he asked was, \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n As detectives investigated the murder, they gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses and crafted sketches of the men. But the break in the case came when a Santer\u00eda priest called in a tip: Fernandez had confessed to the killing, the priest told police.<\/p>\n A month before Bauer\u2019s murder, several of the men had been involved in the murder of Raul Lopez, 46, who was shot to death during a Hialeah robbery. Franqui, Abreu and San Martin were charged and convicted in the murder.<\/p>\n Franqui and San Martin were sentenced to death for Lopez\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793415851_877_IMG_6789.jpg\")