Raiford, Florida - A 64-year-old man convicted of murdering a traveling salesman was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday in Florida, the state that carried out more executions last year than any other.

Ronald Heath, who had previously served 10 years in prison for another murder committed when he was 16 years old, was executed at 6:12 PM at the state prison in Raiford.

"The sentence of the State of Florida v. Inmate Ronald P. Heath was carried out at 6:12 PM EST," the Florida Department of Corrections said, without providing further details.

Heath was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of Michael Sheridan during a robbery committed with his younger brother, Kenneth Heath.

Kenneth Heath pleaded guilty to murder and testified against his brother. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The jury found that "Ronald Heath was the dominant actor in the murder and robbery, and that he maintained substantial influence over his younger, weaker brother, Kenneth," according to court documents.

Sheridan's killing came just months after Ronald Heath had been released from prison after serving 10 years of a 30-year prison sentence for a murder committed when he was a teenager, which he insisted was in self-defense.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a statement, "Ronnie was put to death for a murder he did not commit. The undisputed trigger man in that crime, Ronnie’s brother Kenneth, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. That means one day Kenneth may walk free on this earth, while Ronnie will be buried six feet under it."

"Tonight, Florida killed a man for a death he did not cause and in doing so created several more murder victims’ family members. And these new victims will never see their loved one’s killer brought to 'justice.'"

Heath's execution was the second in the US this year.

A man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend was put to death by lethal injection in Texas last month.

There were 47 executions in the US last year, the most since 2009, when 52 people were put to death.

Florida carried out the most executions in 2025 – 19 – followed by Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, where there were five each.

Thirty-nine of last year's executions were carried out by lethal injection. Three were by firing squad and five by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 states, while three others – California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania – have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and has called for an expansion of its use "for the vilest crimes."