Murderer’s final nine words before Florida lethal injection | US | News
The murderer who stabbed a man nearly 40 years ago finally apologized today (Image: Florida Department of Corrections)
A murderer who stabbed a man nearly four decades ago finally apologized today, just minutes before he was to be executed.
Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was pronounced dead about 10 minutes after receiving a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. When the warden asked Heath if he wanted to make a final statement, the killer replied: “I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. Thank you.”
It was Florida’s first execution of 2026, following 19 executions in the state last year, including that of David Joseph Pittman, who continues to deny the three murders for which he was convicted. But Heath showed remorse before the drugs were administered through an IV placed in the man’s arm.
Heath was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and other charges in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan. He and his brother, Kenneth Heath, met Sheridan at a bar in Gainesville, Florida, in May 1989.
After spending time together at the bar, the three men decided to go somewhere else to smoke marijuana.
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But at some point, the brothers conspired to rob the other man. Ronald Heath took the group to an isolated location; where Kenneth Heath pulled out a gun and pointed it at Sheridan.
The man initially refused to hand over 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. After dumping Sheridan’s body in a wooded area, the brothers returned to the bar in Gainesville and stole items from his rental car, according to court documents.
Records reveal that the brothers made several purchases with Sheridan’s credit cards at a mall in Gainesville the next day.
Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was pronounced dead about 10 minutes after receiving the three-drug lethal injection. (Image: Birmingham Post)
Ronald Heath was arrested at his home in Douglas, Georgia, a few weeks later after detectives linked him to stolen credit cards. Along with Sheridan’s watch, officers also seized clothing purchased with stolen cards, according to court documents.
Kenneth Heath was also charged with Sheridan’s murder but was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea deal. More than a dozen relatives of Heath’s victims witnessed his execution.
At the age of 16, Heath was convicted of murdering teenager Michael Green and spent ten years behind bars. In the days following Sheridan’s death, authorities found the body of Tony Hammett.
Heath was charged with Hammett’s murder, but the case never went to trial.
Following the execution, Sheridan’s brother, Thomas Sheridan, said at a press conference that his family, along with the families of Green and Hammett, had been waiting for this day for more than thirty years.
“Tonight Ronald Palmer Heath was released into the care of his new parole officer. In my opinion, any forgiveness is between him and God,” Thomas Sheridan said.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected Ronald Heath’s appeals last week. His legal team had argued that Florida corrections officials mishandled the state’s death penalty procedures, that the secret pardon system denied due process, that Heath’s incarceration as a minor negatively affected his cognitive development, and that the jury did not unanimously recommend the death penalty.
