MIAMI, Florida - Florida’s first two executions to be carried out in 2026 involved two senior citizens who spent decades in jail awaiting for the state to carry out their death sentences.

Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was executed on Feb. 10, 25 years after he and his brother, Kenneth, were arrested for the murder of a salesman they befriended in a bar.

On Feb. 26, 65-year-old Melvin Trotter is scheduled to die by lethal injection for the killing of Virgie Langford in Palmetto. The victim was strangled to death and stabbed in 1986.

Last year, Florida ranks first among states that still carries out the death penalty as part of their penal laws.

Frank Athen Walls was the last among 19 death convicts executed in 2025. For shooting two people during a home robbery, Walls died by lethal injection on December 18, 2025.

The Heath brothers were found guilty of killing traveling salesman, Michael Sheridan whom they befriended for the purpose of robbing him in May, 1989.

The victim was beaten, stabbed then shot two times in the head when he tried to fight off the brothers.

The Heaths dumped Sheridan’s body in the woods then left with the victim's credit cards.

They were traced by police through the stolen cards that they used in making purchases at a mall in Gainesville.

Heath evaded death when he entered a plea agreement and cooperated in pointing to his brother as Sheridan’s killer.

Sheridan’s family was present to witness the Heath’s execution.