RAIFORD, Fla. – The moral divide over the death penalty played out in Florida this week in a remarkably personal and unusual display, as the state executed its first prisoner of 2026.
Florida executed the condemned killer, Ronald Heath, on Tuesday after he spent nearly four decades on Death Row. He was twice convicted of separate murders 12 years apart, and identified as the suspect in a third murder case that never went to trial.
At each execution at the prison here in north-central Florida, the anti-execution group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty organizes protests of what’s happening behind the barbed wire, inside the walls of the death chamber. They were here again this week, with dozens rallying, praying and singing hymns.
This time, family members of Heath’s victims – clearly exasperated by decades of grief and years of legal delays – spoke directly to their personal beliefs about executions. Some of them witnessed Heath die inside the prison.
“If you’re not a victim’s family or friend, don’t examine it from your point of view,” said Thomas Sheridan, brother of victim Michael Sheridan. “Stand in the shoes of your victim and your rose-colored glasses may fade to clear.”
Thomas Sheridan taunted that Gov. Ron DeSantis could put the expense for the chemical cocktail used in the execution “on my bar tab.”
Kimberly Reeves, Michael Sheridan’s sister, said she doesn’t celebrate the death penalty and hoped that Heath was at peace. Heath stabbed Sheridan, a traveling salesman, in the neck with a hunting knife and directed Heath’s brother to shoot him three times during a robbery. Heath’s final appeals for leniency focused on whether Florida administers lethal injections properly and whether it would cause him needless suffering.
“ Ronald has had appeal, after appeal, after appeal,” she said. “None of our brothers were ever able to appeal for their lives. Not once.”
The family’s campaign to encourage DeSantis to sign the death warrant in the case included sending letters and custom-made blue Sharpies markers to the governor, matching the pens used to sign such warrants.
Heath was also sentenced to 30 years in jail for second-degree murder, convicted of stabbing Michael Green 23 times and crushing his skill with a log when Heath was 17 years old.
Rhonda Green, Michael Green’s sister, said Heath’s execution did not bring her happiness and was a necessary form of justice. Michael Green was funny, outgoing and loved to fish, she said. It’s horrendous it took so long for justice, she said.
The anti-death penalty group noted that Heath was condemned to die even though the fatal gunshots fired by Heath’s brother were the victim’s actual cause of death. It also noted that Florida executed 19 prisoners last year, far more than any other state.
“It’s a marathon of bloodlust,” said Fred Rules, a member of the organization.
There will be more opportunities for the policy debate over the death penalty in Florida in coming months. The state was expected to execute its next prisoner, Feb. 24.
