TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Melvin Trotter is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, February 24, at 6:00 p.m. ET at Florida State Prison. His execution comes as the United States Supreme Court considers his arguments raising serious concerns about Florida’s repeated failures to follow its own lethal injection procedures. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) is advocating for a stay of Mr. Trotter’s execution through a petition and letter-writing campaign to Gov. DeSantis, and will be hosting vigils throughout the state of Florida should the execution proceed. Ron Wright, Florida’s 27th death row exoneree, will be attending and speaking at the vigil held across from Florida State Prison (23916 NW 83rd Ave., Raiford, FL 32026), which begins at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Case Background
Melvin Trotter was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of Virgie Langford in Manatee County. At the time of his trial, Mr. Trotter was a young man living with significant intellectual and cognitive impairments that limited his ability to understand complex proceedings and meaningfully assist in his own defense. Despite evidence of lifelong intellectual disability, brain dysfunction, and profound childhood trauma, he was sentenced to death following a nonunanimous jury recommendation – a standard that nearly every other state and the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized as unconstitutional.
Grace Hanna, Executive Director for FADP, stated, “Mr. Trotter’s conviction and sentence were secured in an era when Florida courts routinely upheld death sentences based on divided jury recommendations and provided limited protections for people with intellectual disabilities. Today, evolving standards of decency and constitutional law recognize that intellectual disability diminishes culpability and heightens the risk of wrongful execution. This does not excuse Mr. Trotter’s actions, but it does mean that death was never the appropriate sentence.”
His current appeal does not challenge the facts of the underlying offense, but instead raises urgent constitutional concerns about the State’s ability to carry out executions in a lawful and reliable manner.
Lethal Injection Concerns Before the U.S. Supreme Court
Mr. Trotter’s case is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. In his pleadings, he asks the Court to pause his execution to allow for an independent investigation into documented failures in Florida’s lethal injection process. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, during many of the 19 executions carried out in 2025, the State repeatedly failed to comply with its own written execution protocols. Those records show that officials:
- Used expired execution drugs;
- Prepared incorrect or incomplete drug dosages;
- Administered drugs not authorized under the written protocol;
- Failed to document what drugs were used, in what quantities, and at what times;
- Recorded the removal of drugs days after executions occurred; and
- Failed to maintain contemporaneous logs – or, in some instances, any logs at all – for critical stages of the execution process.
Mr. Trotter argues that these systemic breakdowns mirror the kinds of irregularities that prompted temporary moratoriums and independent investigations in Oklahoma and Tennessee. He contends that proceeding with an execution under these circumstances violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Hanna adds, “In a hospital or medical setting, administering expired drugs and failing to keep basic records would trigger immediate investigation. In Florida’s execution process, it’s business as usual. If the State cannot follow its own written procedures, it has no business carrying out executions.”
Florida Context
If carried out, Mr. Trotter’s execution would be the second in Florida this year and the 30th under Governor Ron DeSantis. Nineteen executions took place in 2025 alone, accounting for approximately 40% of all executions nationwide. Florida currently maintains the most expansive death penalty scheme in the country. The state allows death sentences based on an 8-4 jury recommendation and has enacted statutes authorizing the death penalty for certain non-homicide offenses – both moves that directly challenge longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Additionally, Florida is the only executing state in which the Governor has sole authority to sign death warrants and grant clemency, without binding oversight from the clemency board or an independent body.
There are currently two additional executions scheduled in Florida: Billy Kearse on March 3, and Michael King on March 17.
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FADP is a Florida-based, statewide organization of individuals and groups working together to end the death penalty in Florida. Our network includes dozens of state and local groups and thousands of individual Floridians, including murder victims’ family members and other survivors of violent crime, law enforcement professionals, families of the incarcerated, and death row exonerees.