Florida executes man for 1993 murders, tying annual record

Miami, US, July 15 (EFE).- Florida authorities on Tuesday executed a 54-year-old man by lethal injection for the murder of two people in Jacksonville in 1993, amid a surge in executions in the state that has prompted protest from local religious leaders.

The execution of Michael Bell took place at 6.25 pm local time at Florida State Prison near Starke, in the north of the state, the Florida Department of Corrections reported.

Bell was convicted of the murder of two people in Jacksonville, one of whom he mistook for the person responsible for killing his brother earlier that same year. He was sentenced to death in 1995.

His execution is the 26th this year in the US, surpassing the total for all of 2024.

It is also the eighth of 2025 in Florida, tying the records set in 1984 and 2014, however the state is scheduled to execute another man convicted of murder on July 31.

Florida is experiencing a surge in executions, with 15 in the last three years, and averaging one every two to three weeks in recent months. All were signed off by the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.

This has sparked protest from religious leaders, over 100 of who last week sent a letter to DeSantis urging him to pause the wave of executions.

Florida is the state with the third-highest number of executions since reinstatement in 1976, with 113 people put to death, after Texas (595) and Oklahoma (129).

Furthermore, Florida authorities have made several decisions in recent years to favor the use of the death penalty. Among them is a law passed in 2023 that made the state one of two, along with Alabama, in which a unanimous jury decision is not required to recommend the death penalty.

Florida also requires the fewest jury votes to recommend the death penalty: a favorable vote of eight out of 12 is sufficient. EFE

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