Florida Inmate Set for Execution After 1991 Murder of Police Officer

STARKE, Fla. – Florida is preparing to carry out its third execution of the year on Tuesday evening, ending a decades-long legal saga for a man convicted of murdering a police officer during a violent 1991 traffic stop.

Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison. The execution follows the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of his final appeals without comment earlier Tuesday.

Kearse was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the death of Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish. The incident occurred after Parrish stopped Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. Court records detail a struggle that ensued when Kearse resisted arrest, culminating in Kearse seizing the officer's service weapon and firing 14 shots. Parrish was struck nine times and later died at a hospital.

"Officer Parrish was doing his job, protecting the community, when his life was brutally taken," said a statement from the Fort Pierce Police Department. "While this does not bring him back, we hope it brings a measure of closure to his family and colleagues."

Kearse's path to the death chamber has been protracted. His original 1991 death sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court due to improper jury instructions, leading to a re-sentencing in 1997 where he was again condemned to death. His attorneys' recent appeals argued he was deprived of a fair penalty phase and cited intellectual disability, claims ultimately rejected by the courts.

The execution occurs amid a significant increase in capital punishment in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis signed a record number of death warrants last year, surpassing any governor since the penalty's reinstatement in 1976. Florida carried out more executions than any other state in 2025.

Voices from the Community:

"Justice delayed is not justice denied, but it has been a painfully long wait for the Parrish family," said Marcus Chen, a retired criminal court clerk from Tallahassee. "The legal process has run its exhaustive course. This case is a stark reminder of the risks officers face every day."

"This is state-sanctioned vengeance, not justice," argued Elara Vance, a vocal advocate with the Florida Abolition Coalition. "Kearse's documented intellectual impairments were ignored. The machinery of death in Florida is accelerating under this administration, and we are all diminished by it. It's a brutal, cyclical response to brutality."

"As a former patrol officer, I understand the chaos of a traffic stop gone wrong," shared David Riggs, a security consultant in Orlando. "The facts here are horrific and the conviction solid. The focus should be on honoring Officer Parrish's sacrifice and supporting law enforcement families who live with this constant fear."

Two more executions are scheduled in Florida this month, underscoring the state's active death penalty protocol.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.