A man from Florida, found guilty of a 1993 double murder, where he fatally shot a man and a woman outside a bar in an attempt to carry out a revenge killing, is slated for execution on Tuesday.
Michael Bernard Bell, 54, is due to receive a lethal injection at the Florida State Prison near Starke, unless a last-minute reprieve alters the course.
Bell was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death in the killings of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith.
In December 1993, court records reveal that Bell noticed a car he believed belonged to the person responsible for his brother’s death earlier that year. However, it turned out Bell was unaware that the car had been sold to someone else named West.
Michael Bell is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday. (AP)
He was also later convicted of three additional murders that happened prior to the shooting at the bar. He fatally shot a woman and her toddler in 1989, and he killed his mother’s boyfriend about four months before shooting West and Smith, officials said.
Attorneys for Bell have filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
In their state filing, the attorneys argued that Bell’s execution should be blocked because of newly discovered evidence concerning witness testimony. But justices unanimously rejected the argument last week, citing what they described as overwhelming evidence of Bell’s guilt.
Bell’s attorneys filed a similar petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, although the nation’s highest court has not yet issued a ruling as his execution time nears.
Michael Bell would be the eighth person executed in Florida this year. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Bell would be the eighth person executed in Florida this year, and a ninth is scheduled for later this month. The state put six people to death in 2023, but only one execution happened last year.
Across the U.S., 25 men have been executed so far this year, matching last year’s total.
Florida has executed more people this year than any other state, while Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with four each. The states that follow are Alabama with three executions and Oklahoma with two, while Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee each have put one person to death.
