Ronald Palmer Heath is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6:00 p.m. today at Florida State Prison, marking the state’s first execution of the new year. Heath, 64, has spent over three decades on death row for the 1989 murder of Michael Sheridan, a traveling salesman whose death serves as the center of a long-running legal battle over Florida’s death penalty practices.
The execution comes on the heels of a historic surge in capital punishment in the Sunshine State. Under Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025, the highest single-year total since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Heath’s case represents a continuation of this aggressive schedule despite persistent legal challenges regarding how the state manages its three-drug execution protocol.
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The 1989 Murder of Michael Sheridan
The crime dates back to May 1989 in Gainesville. According to court records, Heath and his younger brother, Kenneth, met Sheridan at the Purple Porpoise Lounge. The brothers lured Sheridan to a remote area of Alachua County under the guise of smoking marijuana, but the intent was robbery.
When Sheridan resisted, he was shot in the chest and then stabbed in the neck by Ronald Heath. The brothers eventually shot Sheridan twice more in the head before burning his rental car and using his credit cards to buy clothes and jewelry. While both brothers were caught, Kenneth received a life sentence, while Ronald was sentenced to death in 1990.
Last-Minute Legal Battles
In the days leading up to today’s scheduled execution, Heath’s attorneys made several desperate pleas to the courts:
- Lethal Injection Concerns: Lawyers argued that the Florida Department of Corrections has a history of “maladministration,” citing inconsistencies in drug logs from the record-setting executions of 2025.
- Brain Development: The defense presented evidence that Heath’s “psychological age” was much younger than his actual age due to trauma and sexual violence he suffered during an earlier prison stint as a teenager.
- Jury Unanimity: Because Heath’s jury recommended death by a 10-2 vote rather than a unanimous 12-0, his team argued the sentence was out of step with “evolving standards of decency.”
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The Florida Supreme Court rejected all these claims last week, ruling that Heath’s sentence was final and that his legal arguments did not meet the high bar required to halt an execution.
Waiting on the High Court
As the clock ticks toward the evening execution time, Heath’s final hope rests with the U.S. Supreme Court. While the state’s high court has cleared the path, a petition for a stay of execution remains pending before the nation’s highest justices. If they decline to intervene, Florida officials will proceed with the lethal injection as planned.
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