Governor Ron DeSantis has signed the second death warrant of 2026, scheduling the execution of Melvin Trotter — who was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of Virgie Langford — for Tuesday, February 24, at 6 p.m. This was a devastating act of violence that ended a human life and caused immeasurable harm to the people who loved her. Nothing in this request diminishes that loss or the gravity of the crime. Honoring victims means acknowledging that harm and refusing to allow more violence to be carried out in their names.
Melvin is 65 years old and has spent nearly four decades on death row. His execution comes just two weeks after Florida is scheduled to execute Ronald Heath on February 10, continuing an unprecedented pace of executions. Rather than pausing after the deadliest execution year in state history, Florida has begun the new year exactly where it left off. This is not about excusing violence. It is about whether Florida will continue treating executions as routine, despite the risk of irreversible error and the deep harm this system causes to victims’ families, corrections staff, courts, and communities.
Melvin’s case reflects many of the systemic failures that define Florida’s death penalty. Mr. Trotter was sentenced to death following non-unanimous jury recommendations on two occasions under a system now widely recognized as unreliable. His life was shaped by severe trauma, instability, and intellectual limitations that were never meaningfully addressed. These facts do not excuse his actions, but they do matter when the state is deciding whether to carry out an irreversible punishment.
The State of Florida is accelerating executions despite mounting evidence that it cannot, or will not, follow its own rules. In newly filed court pleadings, Melvin has presented extensive evidence showing that Florida’s Department of Corrections has repeatedly deviated from its own lethal injection protocol — the very safeguards courts rely on to ensure executions do not violate the Constitution.
According to Florida’s own records, the state has:
- Failed to document what drugs were used or when they were administered
- Recorded drug removals days after executions occurred
- Used expired execution drugs
- Prepared incorrect dosages
- Administered drugs not authorized by the written protocol
- Failed to keep contemporaneous logs — or any logs at all — for critical steps in the execution process
These are not speculative allegations. They come directly from the state’s own internal documents and were uncovered through litigation following recent executions.
Despite this evidence, Florida has not paused executions, conducted an independent investigation, or meaningfully addressed these failures. Instead, it has rushed forward, placing Melvin directly in the path of an execution system that even courts have acknowledged depends entirely on strict procedural compliance.
Moreover, Melvin is now 65 years old. Executing elderly people serves no deterrent purpose and raises profound constitutional and moral questions. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that punishments which no longer serve legitimate penological goals — deterrence or retribution — risk becoming excessive and cruel.
Florida law itself recognizes the vulnerability of older adults, providing enhanced protections for people over 65 in nearly every other context. Yet, when it comes to the death penalty, the state ignores those same values. Repeatedly, Florida chooses execution even when decades of incarceration have already ensured accountability and public safety.
Florida’s death penalty is supposed to be carried out carefully, deliberately, and only when the state can meet its highest constitutional obligations. What is happening instead is an unprecedented execution pace, combined with documented procedural chaos and a refusal to stop and reassess.
Melvin Trotter’s execution should not move forward until Florida can demonstrate that it is capable of following its own rules, protecting constitutional rights, and ensuring that executions are not carried out recklessly or unlawfully in the name of expediency.