A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer during a 1991 traffic stop is scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening in Florida.
Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Kearse was originally sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm in the killing of Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish.
Case Background
According to court records, Officer Parrish pulled Kearse over in January 1991 for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. When Kearse was unable to produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered him out of the vehicle and attempted to handcuff him.
Prosecutors said a struggle followed, during which Kearse grabbed Parrish’s service weapon and fired 14 times, striking the officer multiple times. Parrish later died at a nearby hospital.
Police were able to identify Kearse using license plate information Parrish had radioed in before approaching the vehicle. Kearse was arrested at his home.
Appeals and Resentencing
The Florida Supreme Court previously ruled that jurors in Kearse’s original sentencing were not properly instructed on certain aggravating circumstances, ordering a new penalty phase. He was resentenced to death in 1997.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied additional appeals. His attorneys argued that he was denied a fair penalty phase and that his intellectual disability makes his execution unconstitutional. Final appeals were pending before the Supreme Court of the United States as of Tuesday.
Florida’s Execution Pace
This would be Florida’s third execution of 2026, following a record 19 executions in 2025.
Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous high was eight executions in both 1984 under Bob Graham and 2014 under Rick Scott.
Florida executions are carried out by lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic agent and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Two additional executions are scheduled in Florida later this month.