JUST NOW: Ronald Palmer Heath Executed in Florida — His Crime, Final Meal & Last Words Revealed

On February 10th, 2026, after spending more than 35 years on death row, Ronald Palmer Heath was executed by lethal injection in Florida. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. Ronnie was just 16 years old when he killed for the first time. His first victim was a man named Michael Lee Green.

 Ronnie stabbed him 23 times, crushed his skull, and burned his car. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years, of which he served only 10. And when he got out in 1988, everyone assumed he had learned his lesson. But he hadn’t. Six months after his release, Ronnie killed again. But to understand what happened, we need to go back to May 1989 and a man named Michael Sheridan.

Michael was 33 years old, a traveling salesman from out of town with a family back home waiting for him. This was supposed to be a routine business trip in Gainesville, Florida. By all accounts, Michael was outgoing and easy to talk to. The kind of guy who would strike up a conversation with anyone. On the evening of May 23rd, 1989, Michael walked into the Purple Porpoise Lounge, a bar near the University of Florida campus.

He was already a few drinks in and feeling social. But what Michael didn’t know was that his friendliness was about to cost him his life. Because sitting in a booth just a few feet away >> [music] >> were two brothers. And one of them had already killed before. Ronald Palmer Heath was 28, and his younger brother Kenneth was 24.

Kenneth struck up a conversation with Michael. They talked about baseball, about life, about nothing in particular. Michael was friendly, generous, even. And then he made a gesture that would seal his fate. He offered to buy them drinks. And by the end of the night, Michael had paid the entire [music] bar tab for both brothers with his credit card.

Eventually, Michael asked Kenneth a simple question. Do you get high? Do you have any marijuana? Kenneth told him that his brother Ronnie did. But here’s the thing about Ronnie. He wasn’t just making small talk. He was watching, calculating. Michael was wearing gold chains, a watch, and a bracelet.

 He was clearly drunk. He was alone, and he had just shown that he had money. Ronnie pulled Kenneth aside and made a suggestion. If they could get Michael to leave with them, they could rob him. And Kenneth agreed, just like that. The three men left the Purple Porpoise together shortly after midnight. They got into Kenneth’s car with Ronnie behind the wheel and drove out of town.

Michael thought they were going somewhere to smoke marijuana. He thought he was making friends. He had no idea what was really about to happen. Ronnie drove them to a remote dirt road in Aliquippa County, far from any houses or street lights. They parked, got out of the car, and lit a joint. Michael was relaxed, unsuspecting.

But then Ronnie made a gesture, a motion with his hand like he was holding a gun, and he said to Kenneth, “Did you get it?” Kenneth knew exactly what he meant. He reached under the car seat and pulled out a small-caliber handgun. He pointed it directly at Michael and told him he was being robbed.

 He ordered Michael to hand over his wallet and remove his jewelry. Michael looked at them in disbelief. “Y’all aren’t serious, are you?” But they were. And when Michael refused to comply, when he said he wasn’t going to give them anything, Kenneth pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Michael in the chest. He stumbled backward and sat down on the ground, clutching his wound, and he said that it hurt.

But Ronnie wasn’t done. He walked over to Michael and demanded his wallet, his chains, his watch. And when Michael started to reach for his belongings, Ronnie began kicking him hard and repeatedly as he lay wounded on the ground. Ronnie stripped Michael of everything, his wallet, his gold chains, his watch, but there was one piece of jewelry he couldn’t find, a bracelet he had seen earlier.

Ronnie told Michael, “You give me the bracelet and we’ll get you to a hospital.” But Michael couldn’t give it. Either he didn’t have it, or he couldn’t reach it in his condition. Frustrated, Ronnie walked back to the car, and when he returned, he was holding a hunting knife. He walked up to Michael and stabbed him in the neck.

 He tried to slit his throat, jabbing the blade in and attempting to cut, but the knife wasn’t sharp enough. It didn’t work. So, Ronnie turned to Kenneth and gave him an order. “Shoot him in the head.” Kenneth fired twice. Two bullets entered Michael’s skull from the front, just above his left eyebrow, and that was it.

Michael collapsed and died there in the dirt, all for a watch, some chains, and a wallet. But the brothers weren’t done. They picked up Michael’s body and carried it deeper into the woods, dumping it where they hoped it wouldn’t be found for a long time. Ronnie wiped the knife clean and put it back in the car.

>> [music] >> Then, they drove back to the Purple Porpoise. Michael’s rental car was still sitting in the parking lot. Ronnie handed Kenneth the keys and told him to follow. They drove the rental car to another remote dirt road, removed some items from the vehicle, cut the gas line, and set it on fire.

 They left the knife inside the burning car, letting the flames consume the evidence. The next day, May 24th, 1989, Ronnie and Kenneth went shopping like nothing had happened. They drove to the Oaks Mall in Gainesville and spent the day buying clothes, shoes, and other items using Michael’s stolen credit cards. Ronnie told Kenneth to sign all the receipts because, he said, Kenneth’s handwriting was better and he might mess up if he did it himself.

The brothers spent that night in Gainesville and continued their shopping spree the next morning. But their luck ran out when a clerk at an audio store became suspicious and started asking questions about the card they couldn’t answer. Ronnie and Kenneth quickly left the store and drove back to Jacksonville.

On the way, they stopped at the St. Johns River and threw the handgun into the water. It was never recovered. Ronnie returned to the trailer in Douglas, Georgia, where he lived with his girlfriend, Penny Powell. And for a few weeks, it seemed like he had gotten away with it. But he was wrong. Michael’s body was found 6 days after he was killed on May 30th.

 It was in an advanced state of decomposition. The medical examiner, Dr. William Frank Hamilton, estimated that Michael had been dead for 3 to 10 days. He observed three gunshot wounds, two to the head and one to the torso, along with a sharp force injury to the neck. The wound to the torso alone was fatal, though not immediately.

But it was the combination of the gunshot wounds and the stabbing that ultimately caused Michael’s death. Investigators traced the credit card purchases back to the brothers, and store clerks identified Kenneth from photo lineups. Even though Ronnie was the one who had orchestrated the entire crime, the receipts all had Kenneth’s signature.

Several weeks after the murder, police arrested Ronnie at his trailer in Georgia. And when they searched it, they found multiple items purchased with Michael’s credit cards. But there was one piece of evidence that would seal Ronnie’s fate, Michael’s stolen watch, the one Ronnie had ripped off a dying man’s wrist.

Both Ronnie and Kenneth were charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and multiple forgery-related charges. After his arrest, Kenneth made a deal. He agreed to testify against his older brother in exchange for a reduced sentence. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to all charges and received life in prison with out eligibility for parole for 25 years.

 The judge’s sentencing order noted that Kenneth had acted under the power of his older brother. Kenneth Heath remains in prison to this day. Ronnie went to trial in 1990, and the prosecution presented overwhelming evidence. The credit card receipts, the testimony of store clerks who identified Kenneth, the stolen watch found in Ronnie’s trailer, and most damning of all, Kenneth’s detailed testimony about what happened that night.

Kenneth admitted to pulling the trigger, but he painted a clear picture. Ronnie was the mastermind. Ronnie had suggested the robbery. Ronnie had driven to the remote location. Ronnie had kicked and stabbed Michael as he lay wounded, and Ronnie had ordered Kenneth to shoot Michael in the head. The defense tried to argue that Kenneth was the more culpable party, that Ronnie had only played a secondary role, but the jury didn’t buy it.

 They found him guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit forgery, seven counts of forgery, and seven counts of uttering a forgery. During the penalty phase, the jury heard about Ronnie’s violent past, his conviction for second-degree murder at age 16, his decade in prison, and his release just 6 months before this crime.

The prosecution argued that he posed a continuing danger to society, that he had been given a second chance and had immediately returned to violence. The jury voted 10 to 2 to recommend the death penalty, and without hesitation, the judge agreed. Ronald Palmer Heath was sentenced to die in Florida’s electric chair.

For the next 35 years, Ronnie sat on death row, filing appeal after appeal. His lawyers argued that the jury’s non-unanimous recommendation violated his constitutional rights. That Kenneth’s testimony had been incentivized and unreliable. And that the disparity between his sentence and Kenneth’s, who had actually pulled the trigger, was fundamentally unfair.

But every court that reviewed his case upheld the conviction and sentence. And in 2026, his time was up. On February 10th, Ronnie’s final day came. He woke up at 5:07 a.m. in his cell at Florida State Prison. In nearly every letter he wrote while on death watch, Ronnie asked the same thing. Please look after my mother.

Later that day, two people came to say goodbye. His mother and a friend. He did not meet with a spiritual advisor. And when officials offered him a special last meal, he declined. After 35 years on death row, Ronnie ate the same standard tray as every other inmate. At 6:00 p.m., the curtain to the execution chamber went up.

 Ronnie was already strapped to the gurney and IV line inserted in his arm. The warden asked if he had any final words. Ronnie looked up and said, “I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. Thank you.” 35 years. And that was all he had. As the drugs began flowing, Ronnie showed little reaction. He closed his eyes. His breathing slowed.

 And then he was still. About 8 minutes later, a medic was called in. 2 Two after that, at 6:12 p.m., Ronald Palmer Heath was pronounced dead. He was 64 years old. What do you think? Has justice been served? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.