A man convicted of murdering a 70 year old shop owner was executed on Tuesday in Florida, marking the state's second execution this year following a record 19 executions in 2025.

Melvin Trotter, 65, was declared dead at 6:15pm after receiving a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1986 fatal stabbing of Virgie Langford.

The curtain to the execution chamber was raised at the scheduled 6pm execution time. Trotter refused to make a final statement and the drugs commenced flowing approximately two minutes afterwards.

Trotter started breathing heavily and twitching roughly a minute later. His movements then subsided about two minutes subsequently.

The prison warden examined Trotter's face and called out his name, but received no response. A medic was summoned at 6:14pm to assess the prisoner's vital signs and Trotter was pronounced dead one minute later.

This execution and another conducted earlier this month in Florida come after the unprecedented 19 executions performed by the state last year. In 2025, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis presided over more executions in a single year than any other Florida governor since capital punishment's restoration in 1976.

The previous Florida record stood at eight executions in 2014. Court documents reveal that Trotter stabbed and strangled Langford on 16 June 1986 at her shop in Palmetto, near the southern edge of Tampa Bay.

A lorry driver subsequently discovered Langford bleeding but conscious on the rear floor of the premises, and she provided crucial information about her assailant before succumbing to her injuries at hospital.

Beyond describing Trotter's physical characteristics, Langford stated he wore a Tropicana employee badge bearing the name "Melvin". Court records show police subsequently discovered a T-shirt with Langford's blood type at Trotter's residence and the man's handprint on a meat cooler at the shop.

In 1987, Trotter was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a death sentence. Following the state Supreme Court's determination that the trial court had erred in addressing aggravating factors in his case, he received the death penalty once more at resentencing in 1993.

The Florida Supreme Court recently rejected appeals to halt the execution. Trotter's legal team contended officials had mishandled his death penalty procedures.

They also maintained Trotter's advanced age of 65 warranted exempting him from execution.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trotter's final appeal on Tuesday afternoon.

Additionally, Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned the state's administration of lethal drugs. Trotter's lawyers contended that Florida could "maladminister" the state's protocol in a manner that increases the risk for a "mangled" execution in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Sotomayor expressed hope that, moving forward, the state "will recognize the paramount importance of ensuring that it conducts executions consistently" with the appropriate protocols.

A total of 47 individuals were put to death across the United States in 2025. Florida topped the list following a series of death warrants authorised by DeSantis.

Alabama, South Carolina and Texas shared second place with five executions apiece during the previous year.

Beyond the two Florida executions carried out this year, Texas and Oklahoma have each performed one execution thus far in 2026.

On 10 February, a man found guilty of murdering a travelling salesperson became the first individual executed in Florida this year. Ronald Palmer Heath, aged 64, was administered a lethal injection for the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.

Two additional Florida executions are scheduled for next month, beginning with Billy Leon Kearse on 3 March, followed by Michael Lee King on 17 March.

All executions in Florida are performed by administering a sedative, a paralytic agent and a drug which stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

In the hours preceding Tuesday's execution, Florida Corrections officials confirmed that Trotter woke at 3:20am and received one visitor throughout the day, though he declined to meet with a spiritual adviser. He requested a final meal consisting of fish, cornbread, cake and fizzy drink.