Ronald “Ronnie” Heath has spent nearly 35 years on Florida’s death row for his role in the 1989 robbery and murder of Michael Sheridan in Alachua County. Ronnie does not dispute his involvement in the crime and has consistently acknowledged responsibility and expressed remorse for the irrevocable harm caused to Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Sheridan’s family.
The question is not whether the crime was serious. It was. The question is whether executing Ronnie Heath now — after decades of incarceration, profound trauma, demonstrable change, and in the face of extreme sentencing disparity – serves justice, fairness, or the purposes for which clemency exists. The record shows that it does not.
Clemency Is the Only Remedy for This Sentencing Disparity
Ronnie and his younger brother, Kenneth Heath, were co-defendants in this same crime. Both participated in the robbery that led to Mr. Sheridan’s death. Ronnie has never denied this fact. Yet, the outcomes for the two men could not be more different.
Kenneth, terrified to receive a death sentence, entered into a plea agreement with the state, pleaded guilty, and testified against his brother. In exchange, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years. He is now parole-eligible.
Ronnie, by contrast, refused to testify against his brother, was instead sentenced to death following a jury recommendation of 10-2, and now faces execution on February 10. Kenneth wrote to the Clemency Board in September of 2025 stating that they were both “equally culpable” and that “[i]f Ronnie were executed, it would not be equal justice.”
This disparity in sentencing is not rooted in greater culpability, leadership, or moral blameworthiness. Rather, it reflects the mechanics of plea bargaining and Florida’s death sentencing practices – practices that allow non-unanimous jury recommendations and abandon proportionality review for those sentenced for the same crime.
Clemency exists precisely to address these inequities when the legal system cannot. Executing Ronnie while his equally involved co-defendant remains alive, in prison, and eligible for parole, would entrench an outcome that is fundamentally disproportionate.
Incarcerated as a Child and Exposed to Extreme Trauma
Ronnie was incarcerated from approximately age 16 through 27 as the result of a guilty plea related to an earlier conviction. While serving his sentence, he was transferred between at least 9 different adult prisons, jails, and work camps.
While incarcerated, Ronnie reported multiple instances of extreme violence and sexual assault, which are corroborated by contemporaneous records and prior evaluations. At sixteen, during his most critical developmental years, he was raped several times, including gang rape and rape at gunpoint. This went on for two years and was so violent that he was hospitalized for three months and underwent surgery. None of this is to excuse Ronnie’s role in Mr. Sheridan’s murder, but it is necessary to explain how we got here.
The jury that sentenced Ronnie to death never heard anything about those experiences. The jury never heard that Ronnie had been gang raped, or raped at knife point, or that he had to visit the ER because of one rape he suffered at only 18 years old. No evidence of the myriad traumas Ronnie endured during his first incarceration was introduced at trial or sentencing.
What Decades of Trauma Do to the Developing Brain
At the time of Ronnie’s trial and sentencing in 1990, the scientific understanding of adolescent brain development and the impact of trauma was limited. Since then, decades of research in neuroscience and psychology have fundamentally changed how experts understand decision-making, impulse control, and judgment in individuals exposed to chronic trauma during adolescence.
A psychological evaluation conducted in 2025 situates Ronnie’s life squarely within this modern framework. It explains how prolonged exposure to violence, deprivation, and fear during adolescence can arrest neurological development, impair executive functioning, and distort coping mechanisms well into adulthood.
The evaluator concluded that Ronnie’s history of “polyvictimization” — repeated and layered trauma — significantly impaired his reasoning and judgment at the time of the offense. This context was not meaningfully considered during his original sentencing, not because it was irrelevant, but because the science had not yet caught up.
Unresolved Risks and Lack of Transparency in Florida’s Lethal Injection Process
In his current litigation, Ronnie alleges that Florida’s mishandling of its lethal injection protocol is characterized by repeated errors. These errors include the use of incorrect drug dosages, the administration of expired or unauthorized drugs, and inadequate monitoring during executions. He further claims that the State has violated his due process rights by refusing to grant access to essential public records. These records are uniquely held by the State and are necessary to assess whether Florida’s execution practices pose a significant risk of serious harm.
Records submitted in the litigation for Frank Walls reveal a “glaring lack of accountability and internal review within the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC).” Additionally, Ronnie has not received any records in response to his public records requests concerning Florida’s continued mishandling of its lethal injection protocol.
Clemency exists as a safeguard when the State cannot demonstrate that it can carry out an execution lawfully, transparently, and without unnecessary risk of serious harm.
Who Ronnie Heath Is Today
Ronnie’s symptoms have intensified as executions around him have accelerated. He has witnessed other men, his friends and neighbors, being taken to “Death House,” heard guards speculate about who will be next, and experienced mounting despair as clemency denials accumulate.
While imprisoned, Ronnie earned his GED and pursued further education. He developed a deep commitment to creative expression, including woodworking and textile arts, producing intricate gifts for loved ones despite severely limited resources.
He is widely known for his compassion toward animals, a lifelong passion that continued even while incarcerated. Friends and family describe him as gentle, thoughtful, and selfless — someone who offers emotional support to others despite his own circumstances.
Ronnie maintains a close relationship with his mother whom he supports emotionally as she ages and lives alone. Friends who have known him for more than two decades attest to his consistent growth, humility, and empathy. These accounts are not isolated or recent; they are corroborated across multiple letters and years of correspondence.
Ronnie Heath Deserves Mercy
Clemency is not an act of leniency; it is an acknowledgement that punishment must be proportional, informed, and humane. Ronnie has been punished severely for his conduct — decades of incarceration, much of it under conditions marked by violence. He is not the same person he was and the record reflects that reality clearly and consistently. Executing Ronnie will not restore what was lost in 1989 and would not advance public safety. Executing Ronnie would simply finalize a punishment that has already exceeded any legitimate penological purpose.
Clemency exists for cases like this.