What happened?
Florida carried out its 17th execution of the year on Thursday, putting to death 63-year-old Richard Barry Randolph, a man convicted of brutally attacking and killing his convenience store manager in 1988. Officials said Randolph died at 6:12 p.m. after receiving a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Randolph offered no final words, and the execution began just minutes after the curtains opened to witnesses. According to prison officials, he showed minimal movement before becoming unresponsive, and a medical team confirmed his death one minute before the official time.
The crime that led to his death sentence
Court documents say Randolph returned to a Handy-Way convenience store in Palatka in August 1988, where he once worked, and tried to break into the store’s safe. Manager Minnie Ruth McCollum confronted him, triggering a violent struggle.
Investigators later said Randolph beat, strangled, stabbed and raped McCollum before taking her car and fleeing.
Three women passing by noticed the store in disarray and called law enforcement. Deputies found McCollum still alive but unconscious; she died six days later at the hospital from severe brain injuries.
Randolph was arrested soon after in Jacksonville while trying to cash stolen lottery tickets. Deputies said he confessed and even led investigators to clothing stained during the attack.
Last-minute appeals rejected
The Florida Supreme Court denied Randolph’s final state appeal last week. His lawyers argued he should have been given more access to public records and claimed his previous attorneys acted without his consent.
On Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court also rejected his final petition.
Florida’s record-breaking execution year
Randolph’s death marks 44 executions nationwide in 2025, with Florida leading all states.
Florida has already executed more people this year than any year in its modern history. The previous record was eight in 2014 — a number the state has more than doubled.
Two more executions are already scheduled:
- Dec. 9 – Mark Allen Geralds, convicted in a fatal stabbing during a home invasion.
- Dec. 18 – Frank Athen Walls, convicted of killing two people and later confessing to three additional murders.
The state uses a three-drug protocol: a sedative, a paralytic, and a chemical that stops the heart.
