Florida Executes Melvin Trotter for 1986 Murder

Melvin Trotter, a 65-year-old man convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 robbery and killing of 70-year-old grocery store owner Virgie Langford, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. The procedure will mark the second execution in Florida this year.

Trotter's death sentence stems from an incident on June 16, 1986, at Langford's store in Palmetto. Court records indicate that Trotter, who was under the influence of crack cocaine at the time, entered the store as it was closing, emptied the cash register and then attacked Langford, stabbing her multiple times with a foot-long butcher knife. Some accounts describe the assault as including strangulation. A truck driver discovered Langford alive shortly after and rushed her to a hospital, where she provided a description of her assailant, including his physical appearance and the name "Melvin" on a Tropicana employee badge he wore. Langford succumbed to her injuries soon afterward. Investigators linked Trotter to the crime through a T-shirt stained with blood matching her type found at his residence and his handprint on a meat cooler at the store. Prior to the...