Florida executed 53-year-old Billy Kearse at 6:24 p.m. Tuesday for the 1991 murder of a Fort Pierce police officer during a traffic stop, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
His last words were, “I sincerely apologize for what I have done. There’s no way I can repay that. … Give me peace, thank you,” according to news correspondent and witness John Koch.
Part of Kearse’s last words were inaudible, according to witnesses of the execution.
In a press briefing following the execution, the victim’s widow, Mirtha Busbin, delivered a tear-filled speech, with friends and family of the victim standing behind her, in which she said Kearse’s apology was unexpected.
“I do find peace in knowing that Mr. Kearse did apologize this evening prior to his departure,” she said. “That made me feel at least that I can forgive him and move on, because it’s the right thing to do.”
Kearse is the third person executed by the state in 2026, following a record-breaking year in 2025 with 19 executions in Florida.
“This time in Florida’s history will be remembered as disgusting, as dark, as shameful,” said Maria DeLiberato, legal and policy director for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “Time will tell that this is just cruel.”
The crime
Danny Parrish, a police officer, pulled then-18-year-old Kearse over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street on Jan. 18, 1991, according to the court documents.
Kearse then refused to show the officer his driver’s license and gave him several false names, which led Parrish to tell him to get out of the car.
While the officer was trying to handcuff Kearse, a “scuffle ensued,” and Kearse grabbed the officer’s gun and shot Parrish 14 times.
He then drove away with the gun, which he later hid.
A taxi driver in the area heard the gunshots and called for help on the officer’s police radio. Parrish died at the hospital.
Parrish had called in the license plate number before stopping Kearse, allowing law enforcement to find the car’s registered address, belonging to a Derrick Dickerson who Kearse was temporarily living with, where Kearse was arrested.
Kearse waived his right to remain silent and confessed to the murder, according to court documents.
He was formally charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. An additional armed robbery charge was added a few months later.
The punishment
A jury found Kearse guilty and recommended a death sentence following his trial, which started in October 1991.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but vacated the death sentence and awarded him a new sentencing hearing, during which the jury unanimously recommended death in September 1997.
The court found two aggravating factors, including the crime happened during a robbery and the victim was an on-duty law enforcement officer.
The court also found mitigating circumstances, including Kearse’s young age at the time of the crime and his “difficult childhood,” which resulted in psychological and emotional problems, according to court documents.
School officials, family members and mental health professionals, among others, testified on Kearse’s behalf, describing Kearse’s mother drinking while pregnant and “the school designation that Kearse was learning disabled and emotionally dysfunctional,” court documents show.
Several school officials testified Kearse was functioning well below grade level and was in special education classes from 1982 to 1987. He also got into trouble at school often, eventually dropping out at 15, the witnesses said.
Still, the court found the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating and Kearse was sentenced to death
Kearse filed multiple appeals in the following years, most recently claiming the presence of law enforcement officers at his trial unfairly influenced the jury. He argued newly-discovered evidence showed he was intellectually disabled, and the “truncated nature” of the death warrant process was unconstitutional, according to court documents.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s denial of these claims Feb. 25.
Day of the execution
Over 60 people gathered on the lawn across from Florida State Prison Tuesday in protest of Kearse’s execution.
Among them was 23-year-old Wyatt Swezey, a UF economics senior and member of Catholic Gators.
“I just think that there’s no good that can come out of murder and killing someone,” he said. “I just support life in all ways, in all facets.”
Donna Klaum, who came to the prison with the Our Lady of Lourdes church in Daytona Beach, said she has lost count of how many times she has come out to the prison in protest of an execution. She doesn’t think the state has any right to take a life, she said.
“Being a pro-life state, I never thought in my wildest dreams that they would not eliminate the death penalty,” she said. “They’re taking a life, just like they do in abortions.”
Carla Cusanelli, a 911 dispatcher who worked with Parrish for several years in the Fort Pierce Police Department, said it has taken too long to execute Kearse, saying he should not have been allowed 17 appeals because “Danny didn’t get 17 extra minutes to live.”
She described Parrish as “a good man.”
“He could make friends easily. He loved law enforcement,” she said. “He was just always there for his fellow officers.”
Two more executions are scheduled for this month on March 17 and March 31.
Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @AlexaRyan_.
Alexa is a second-year journalism and international studies student and The Alligator's Spring 2026 Enterprise Politics Reporter. She previously served as the Fall 2025 Criminal Justice Reporter. In her free time, she enjoys running, traveling and going on random side quests.
