Florida executed a 53-year-old male inmate convicted of shooting a police officer 14 times during a traffic stop in 1991. This is the third inmate execution in the state this year.
On 4 March 2026, international news agencies reported that Billy Leon Kears, a 53-year-old death row inmate, was scheduled to be executed by a three-drug lethal injection at a Florida state prison near Stark at 6:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, after the Supreme Court denied his final appeal.
Kears was sentenced to death for premeditated murder and armed robbery related to an incident in January 1991 during a traffic stop in Fort Pierce, Florida. Officer Danny Parrish had ordered him to stop after Kears was driving the wrong way on a one-way street.
Court records state that after Kears failed to present a valid driver's license and resisted being handcuffed, a struggle ensued. He then grabbed the officer's gun and fired 14 shots, hitting the officer nine times and striking his bulletproof vest four times. Prosecutors said a nearby taxi driver heard the gunfire and used the police radio to call for backup.
This execution marks Florida's third in 2026, following a record 19 executions last year. Governor Ron DeSantis has signed more death warrants than any governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Prison officials said the execution would proceed according to the state's standard procedures amid ongoing debate over the death penalty in the United States.
. AP