Ronald Heath is scheduled to be executed by the State of Florida on February 10 2026 for the murder of Michael Sheridan
According to court documents Ronald Heath was on parole for murder when he and his brother Kenneth Heath would meet the victim Michael Sheridan inside of a Gainesville Florida bar
The trio would leave the bar with Michael Sheridan believing they were driving to pick up some marijuana however the two brothers had planned to rob him.
They drove to a remote location where the trio would smoke weed before a gun was pulled on Michael Sheridan. When Sheridan refused to hand over his money he would be shot by Kenneth Heath. Ronald Heath would stab Sheridan and attempted to slit his throat before Kenneth would fatally shoot Sheridan
The brothers were soon arrested and Kenneth Heath agreed to testify against his brother in exchange for the death penalty to be taken off the table. Kenneth Heath would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for twenty five years
Ronald Heath would be convicted and sentenced to death
Update – Ronald Heath was executed on February 10 2026 by lethal injection
Ronald Heath Execution News
A man convicted of killing a traveling salesman during a Gainesville robbery is set to become Florida’s first execution of this year under a death warrant signed Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed off on a record 19 executions last year.
Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Feb. 10 at Florida State Prison.
Heath was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a death weapon and multiple forgery charges in 1990.
According to court records, Heath and his brother, Kenneth Heath, met traveling salesman Michael Sheridan in Gainesville at the Purple Porpoise Lounge in May 1989. After hanging out at the bar for some time, the three men agreed to go somewhere else to smoke marijuana.
At some point, the brothers plotted to rob the other man, investigators said. Ronald Heath drove the group to a remote area, where Kenneth Heath pulled a handgun on Sheridan. The man initially refused to give the brothers anything, and Kenneth Heath shot Sheridan in the chest.
As Sheridan emptied his pockets, Ronald Heath began kicking the man and stabbing him with a hunting knife, prosecutors said. Kenneth Heath then shot Sheridan twice in the head.
The brothers dumped Sheridan’s body in a wooded area and returned to the bar to take items from his rental car. The brothers made multiple purchases with Sheridan’s credit cards the next day at a Oaks Mall in Gaineville.
Ronald Heath was arrested several weeks later at his Douglas, Georgia, home after investigators connected him to the stolen credit cards. Officers recovered clothing purchased with the stolen cards, as well as Sheridan’s watch, according to court records.
Ronald Heath had only been out of prison for six months after serving 10 years of a 30-year sentence for a second-degree murder conviction from 1977.
Kenneth Heath, 60, was also charged with Sheridan’s murder, but he was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea agreement. The judge’s sentencing order said he “acted under the power” of his older brother.
Attorneys for Ronald Heath are expected to file appeals to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2025, DeSantis oversaw more executions in a year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was eight in 2014.
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025, led by Florida’s 19.
DeSantis signs first death warrant of 2026 for man convicted in Gainesville murder | WUSF
Ronald Heath Execution
A man convicted of killing a traveling salesman he and his brother had met at a bar has become the first person executed in Florida this year.
Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. Tuesday following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Heath was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and other charges in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.
When the curtain to the execution chamber went up at the scheduled 6 p.m. start time, Heath was already strapped down with an IV inserted in his arm. Asked by the warden if Heath had any final statement, he said, ”I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. Thank you.”
As the drugs were being administered, Heath showed little outward reaction, closing his eyes and then appearing to fall asleep before becoming motionless. A medic was called in about 8 minutes after the drugs began, and Heath was declared dead 2 minutes after that.
It was the state’s first execution of 2026 and followed a record 19 executions in Florida last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976. The previous Florida record was eight executions set in 2014.
According to court records, Heath and his brother Kenneth Heath met Sheridan at a Gainesville bar in May 1989. After hanging out at the bar for some time, the three men agreed to go somewhere else to smoke marijuana.
At some point, the brothers plotted to rob the other man, investigators said. Ronald Heath drove the group to a remote area, where Kenneth Heath pulled a handgun on Sheridan. The man initially refused to give the brothers anything, and Kenneth Heath shot Sheridan in the chest.
As Sheridan emptied his pockets, Ronald Heath began kicking the man and stabbing him with a hunting knife, prosecutors said. Kenneth Heath then shot Sheridan twice in the head.
The brothers dumped Sheridan’s body in a wooded area and returned to the Gainesville bar to take items from his rental car, according to the court record. It said the brothers made multiple purchases with Sheridan’s credit cards the next day at a Gainesville mall.
Ronald Heath was arrested several weeks later at his home in Douglas, Georgia, after investigators connected him to the stolen credit cards. Officers recovered clothing purchased with the stolen cards, as well as Sheridan’s watch, according to court records.
Kenneth Heath was also charged with Sheridan’s murder, but was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea agreement.
More than a dozen family members of victims of Heath’s crimes witnessed his execution.
When Heath was 16, he was convicted of killing teenager Michael Green, and served 10 years in prison.
Days after Sheridan’s death, authorities also found the body of Tony Hammett. Heath was charged with Hammett’s killing, but the case never went to trial.
Sheridan’s brother, Thomas Sheridan, said during a news conference following the execution that his family, as well as the families of Green and Hammett, had been waiting for this day for more than three decades.
“Tonight, Ronald Palmer Heath was released to the custody of his new parole officer. As far as I’m concerned, any forgiveness is between him and God,” Thomas Sheridan said.
The Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Ronald Heath last week. His attorneys had argued that Florida corrections officials had mismanaged its own death penalty protocols, that the state’s secretive clemency process blocked due process, that Heath’s incarceration as a juvenile stunted his brain development and that jurors did not recommend the death penalty unanimously.
On Tuesday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Heath’s appeal.
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each that year.
Two more Florida executions have already been scheduled for later this month and next month. Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled to die on Feb. 24, and the execution of Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is set to follow exactly a week later on March 3.
All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
Man convicted of killing traveling salesman is executed in Florida | AP News
