A man convicted of killing a 70-year-old grocery store owner 39 years ago has been put to death in Florida – the second person executed by the state in 2026. Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed at 6.15pm after lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Tuesday (February 24) for the June 16, 1986, stabbing death of Virgie Langford.

Ms Langford was a mother of four, looking forward to retirement, when she was stabbed to death in the corner grocery store in Palmetto, near Tampa Bay, that she owned for five decades. A truck driver found her bleeding but alive on the back floor of the store and she provided key details about her attacker before dying in hospital. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987. After the state Supreme Court found the trial court had erred in handling aggravating factors in his case, he again drew the death penalty at resentencing in 1993.

Trotter’s last meal consisted of fish, cornbread, cake and soda, according to Florida Corrections officials. He awoke at 3.20am on Tuesday and had one visitor during the day. Trotter declined to give a last statement and the drugs – a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart – were injected about two minutes later. Trotter began breathing heavily and twitching about a minute later. His movements then slowed about two minutes later.

The prison warden checked Trotter’s face and shouted his name, but there was no reaction. A medic was then called in at 6.14pm to check the inmate’s vital signs and Trotter was declared dead a minute later. Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis, said there were no complications.

Trotter’s execution, along with another earlier this month in Florida, comes after a record 19 executions by the state in 2025. In total, 47 people were put to death in the US last year. Republican Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976. The previous Florida record was eight executions in 2014. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each last year.

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Texas and Oklahoma have also conducted one execution each so far in 2026. On February 10, Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, who was convicted of killing a travelling salesperson, Michael Sheridan, in 1989, was the first person executed in Florida this year.

The Florida Supreme Court recently denied appeals in which Trotter’s attorneys argued officials had mismanaged his death penalty protocols. They also argued Trotter’s advanced age of 65 should exempt him from execution. His final appeal was denied on Tuesday by the US Supreme Court.

However, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she was “deeply troubled” by Florida’s record on lethal injections. She said death row inmates have been unable to prove their suspicions that the state is using expired drugs and engaging in other questionable practices because the Florida Supreme Court has not allowed the inmates access to documents that could back up their claims.

“By continuing to shroud its executions in secrecy, Florida undermines both the integrity of its own execution process and, potentially, this Court’s ability to ensure the State’s compliance with its constitutional obligations,” she wrote.

Two more Florida executions are scheduled for next month, starting with Billy Leon Kearse on March 3 and Michael Lee King on March 17.