Florida Executes Man Today, 40 Years After Brutally Murdering an Elderly Grocer

A man convicted of murdering a 70-year-old grocer during a 1986 robbery is scheduled for execution today.

Florida is set to execute Melvin Trotter for the murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford on 16 June 1986. Trotter, 65, will become the second person executed in the state this year.

Florida State Prison is set to administer Trotter's three-drug injection on 24 February at 6:00pm. Trotter first received the death penalty in 1987 after being convicted of first-degree murder, but the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing after the case was mishandled at trial court.

Trotter again received the death penalty in 1993, but spent the next 33 years on death row. Per AP News, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Trotter's appeals that his age should exempt him from execution. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet review his final appeals.

Robbery Escalates to First-Degree Murder

Per court records, a robber walked into Langford's grocery as she was set to close up shop on the night she was murdered. The 'crack addict' later confirmed as Trotter emptied the cash register before stabbing Langford seven times with a foot-long butcher knife. Langford's four children had reportedly convinced her to retire before the incident.

A truck driver found Langford in the aftermath and brought her to a hospital, where she described her attacker. Aside from Trotter's physical appearance, Langford remembered seeing the name 'Melvin' written on his Tropicana employee badge. Langford died shortly after.

Police matched Langford's blood type with a T-shirt stain found in Trotter's residence. His handprint was also found on the meat cooler at the grocery store.

Murderer's Defence Argues Motive During Trial

During his trial, Trotter's attorneys argued that he was high on crack and had no control over his actions. 'Premeditated first-degree murder is not committed in the manner that the state would have you believe Virgie Langford met her death,' defence attorney Peter Dubensky told jurors. 'One does not premeditate murder when one arrives at the scene unarmed.'

Per USA Today, Langford's family blamed the 'bureaucratic do-gooders of rehabilitation' for their mother's murder. Already on house arrest before Langford, Trotter had committed a previous robbery where he reportedly pinned his victim to the ground.

Langford's children have waited 40 years for justice. 'I think [Trotter] deserves to burn,' her daughter Liz Matthews told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in 1987. Langford's other daughter, Christine McKnight, also anticipated Trotter's execution.

'My mom, she was a fine lady,' McKnight told the newspaper. 'She worked hard all her life and she didn't deserve to die the way that she did.' Archived obituaries confirm that one of Langford's four children died in 2011 at the age of 72.

Florida Sets Record for Number of Executions

Trotter's execution is Florida's second this February. Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw 19 executions in 2025, the most conducted by the state in any single year.

On 3 March, Florida is set to execute Billy Leon Kearse, convicted of the murder of Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish on 18 January 1991. During an ill-fated traffic stop, Kearse reportedly disarmed and shot Parrish with the latter's service weapon.