Ronald Palmer Heath: Sheridan Murder, Appeals, and Execution

Ronald Palmer Heath was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on February 10, 2026, for the 1989 robbery and murder of traveling salesman Michael Sheridan in Gainesville. He was 64 and had spent more than 35 years on death row. He was the first person Florida put to death in 2026, following a year in which the state carried out 19 executions.¹

The 1989 Killing of Michael Sheridan

On May 24, 1989, Heath and his younger brother Kenneth met Sheridan at the Purple Porpoise Lounge in Gainesville. Sheridan, a traveling salesman, agreed to leave with them, believing they were going to smoke marijuana elsewhere.²

The brothers drove him to an isolated area in Alachua County. Ronald had suggested the robbery. Kenneth drew a handgun and demanded Sheridan’s belongings, then shot him in the chest when he hesitated. As Sheridan emptied his pockets, Ronald kicked him and stabbed him in the neck with a hunting knife, then told Kenneth to shoot him in the head. Kenneth fired twice more.³ According to Kenneth’s trial testimony, Sheridan’s last words were, “Y’all aren’t serious, y’all are kidding.”²

They dumped the body in a wooded area, returned to the bar to take items from Sheridan’s rental car, and used his credit cards at a Gainesville mall the next day.⁴ A medical examiner reached the body on May 30. Cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and a sharp force injury to the neck.³

A Prior Murder and a Suspected Third

Sheridan was not Heath’s first victim. In December 1977, at age 17, Heath killed Michael Lee Green by stabbing him 23 times and crushing his skull with a log.⁵ He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 30 years.⁶ He always maintained he had acted in self-defense.⁷ Released at 27, he killed Sheridan about two years later.

Duval County court records cited in reporting also connected Heath to the shooting death of Anthony Hammett in Jacksonville just days after Sheridan was killed. That case never went to trial.⁵ Family members of all three men attended the execution.

Why Heath Was Sentenced to Death and His Brother Was Not

Heath was tried in Alachua County before Judge Robert P. Cates. On November 5, 1990, a jury found him guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, armed robbery, and seven counts each of forgery and uttering a forgery tied to the credit card use.⁸

The jury recommended death by a 10-to-2 vote. The court identified two aggravators: the earlier Green murder conviction and the fact that the Sheridan killing occurred during an armed robbery. It weighed those against three mitigators, including extreme mental or emotional disturbance, good prison behavior, and the life sentence given to Kenneth. The judge found the aggravators heavier and imposed death on December 17, 1990, along with a separate enhanced life sentence for the armed robbery.²

Kenneth Heath, who had fired the gun, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years.³ He remained at Tomoka Correctional Institution in early 2026.⁹

Why 35 Years of Appeals Failed

The disparity between the brothers’ sentences was the thread Heath pulled on for the rest of his life. The Florida Supreme Court rejected the proportionality argument on direct appeal in October 1994, pointing to the trial court’s finding that Ronald was the “dominating force” and that Kenneth had acted under his direction. The court also found that a prosecutor’s comment “impermissibly highlighted” Heath’s decision not to testify, but called the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.²

Postconviction litigation turned on Kenneth’s later recantation, in which he described Ronald as having played a lesser role. The Florida Supreme Court found the recantation unreliable, noting contradictions with the medical examiner’s findings and Kenneth’s admission that his mother had pressed him to try to save his brother. The court added that even on Kenneth’s new account, the facts would supply additional aggravators rather than undermine the sentence.¹⁰

In the weeks before the execution, Heath’s lawyers argued that Florida corrections officials had mismanaged death penalty protocols, that the clemency process was unconstitutionally secretive, that his teenage incarceration had affected his brain development, and that the non-unanimous 10-to-2 jury recommendation should invalidate the sentence.¹¹ He also contended that lethal injection would cause needless suffering and proposed a firing squad instead. Courts rejected each claim.¹² The Florida Supreme Court denied his final appeals in early February 2026, and on the morning of the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court denied both a stay and certiorari.¹³

The Execution

Governor Ron DeSantis signed Heath’s death warrant on January 9, 2026, setting the execution for February 10.¹⁴ The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops asked the governor to commute the sentence to life without parole, writing that “it is possible both to achieve the purposes of punishment and to exercise mercy.”¹⁵ No stay was granted.

Heath was executed at Florida State Prison near Starke using the state’s three-drug protocol, which begins with the anesthetic etomidate and ends with a paralytic and potassium chloride.¹⁶ The curtain opened at 6:00 p.m. with the IV already placed. He closed his eyes and appeared to fall asleep. A medic checked him eight minutes in. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m.¹⁷ Heath refused both a last meal and counseling.¹⁸ Asked for a final statement, he said: “I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. Thank you.”¹⁹

Members of Michael Sheridan’s family witnessed the execution, along with relatives of Michael Green and Anthony Hammett. Kimberly Reeves, Hammett’s sister, said Heath had received appeal after appeal while “none of our brothers were ever able to appeal for their lives. Not once.” Rhonda Green, Michael Green’s sister, said the execution brought her no happiness but called it “a necessary form of justice.”¹² Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and Death Penalty Action issued a joint statement asserting that Heath “was put to death for a murder he did not commit,” noting that Kenneth had fired the gun and received life. More than 50 protesters gathered outside the prison that evening.¹⁸

Florida’s Record Execution Pace

Heath’s execution came during the fastest stretch of death sentences Florida had carried out in the modern era. In 2025 the state executed 19 people, more than any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in the late 1970s. The previous post-reinstatement highs had been eight, in 1984 and 2014. Governor DeSantis defended the pace, saying in November 2025 that “justice delayed is justice denied.”¹ By late May 2026, Florida had executed seven people, accounting for half of all U.S. executions that year.¹⁶

1
WUFT. Florida Carries Out Its Second Execution of 2026
2
Justia. Heath v. State, 648 So. 2d 660
3
Florida State University Law Library. Heath v. State, Opinion No. 77,234
4
NBC News. Man Convicted of Killing a Traveling Salesman Becomes First Person Executed in Florida
5
WUSF. Moral Divide Over Death Penalty Plays Out in Unusual Fashion at Florida’s First Execution
6
Florida State University Law Library. Heath v. State, SC07-771 Answer Brief
7
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Statement on the Execution of Ronald Heath
8
Florida State University Law Library. Heath v. State, SC07-771 Initial Brief
9
CBS News. Ronald Heath Execution Florida 1989 Murder Michael Sheridan
10
FindLaw. Heath v. State, SC07-771
11
The Guardian. Florida Execution
12
Florida Politics. Florida Carries Out First Execution of 2026
13
SCOTUSblog. Heath v. Florida
14
The Florida Channel. Governor DeSantis Signs Death Warrant for Ronald Heath
15
Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. Catholic Bishops Urge Governor DeSantis to Stay the Execution of Ronald Heath
16
Death Penalty Information Center. Executions in 2026
17
WUSF. Ronald Palmer Heath Florida Execution
18
WUFT. Florida Executes First Prisoner of 2026 by Lethal Injection
19
CBS News. Florida First Execution 2026 Ronald Palmer Heath