Miami, Florida - A 63-year-old man convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his former store manager was executed by lethal injection Thursday in Florida.

Richard Randolph was put to death at 6:12 PM ET at a state prison in the town of Raiford, the Florida Department of Corrections said in a statement.

Randolph was sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of Minnie McCollum, the manager of a convenience store where he once worked.

He raped and murdered the 62-year-old McCollum after she caught him trying to break into the store's safe, according to court documents.

Florida has carried out more executions this year – 17 – than any other state.

There have been five each in Alabama and Texas.

With Randolph's execution, there have now been 44 executions in the US to date in 2025 – the most since 2010, when 46 inmates were put to death.

Thirty-six of this year's executions have been carried out by lethal injection, three by firing squad, and five by nitrogen hypoxia. This last method 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.