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19h ago

Florida Executes Michael Bernard Bell in 26th U.S. Execution of 2025

The lethal injection of Bell on July 15 underscores a resurgence in state executions propelled by expanded gubernatorial authority under a conservative Supreme Court.

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Michael Bell, 54, is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 15 for the mistaken-revenge killing of two people outside of Jacksonville bar in 1993.
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FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Curt Anderson, file)

Overview

  • On July 15, Michael Bernard Bell, 54, was put to death by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, marking Florida’s eighth execution of the year.
  • Bell’s final appeals to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court were unanimously denied earlier this month, with justices citing overwhelming proof of his guilt.
  • Convicted in 1995 for the December 1993 mistaken-identity ambush that killed Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith outside a Jacksonville bar, Bell was also found guilty of three earlier murders dating from 1989 to 1993.
  • His death brought the national tally to 26 executions in 2025, surpassing all of 2024’s total with more than five months left on the calendar.
  • Another execution is scheduled in Florida later this month as governors wield death-warrant authority and a conservative Supreme Court issues fewer stays, driving a surge in capital punishment.