STARKE, FL - During the evening hours on Tuesday, March 3, a man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own duty weapon during a traffic stop, was executed.
The convicted felon, 53-year-old Billy Leon Kearse, was asked by the warden if he had any final words. Kearse said all he could do was ask for forgiveness from the officer's family. "To his family, I sincerely apologize for what I've done," Kearse said. "There is no way I can ever repay that."
Kearse was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. following a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.
It was another quarter of an hour before a medic entered the room and pronounced Kearse dead. He was condemned for the 1991 fatal shooting of Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parish. More than a dozen family members and police officers gathered in the chamber to observe the execution.
After the execution, Parrish's widow, Mirtha Busbin, said she has found peace. "It's been a long, long 35 years," Busbin said. "We didn't win anything though; we lost another life, but we did get justice."
Busbin, who works as a victim advocate for the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, said she didn't expect Kearse to apologize, but she did appreciate it. "I can forgive him, I can move on," Busbin said. "It was the right thing to do."
Court records show Parrish had pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. After Kearse couldn't produce a valid driver's license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him when a physical struggle ensued.
Kearse grabbed Parrish's firearm during the struggle and fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor, prosecutors said. A taxi driver heard the shots and called for help on the officer's radio, but Parrish died after being rushed to a hospital.
Police used license plate information called in by Parrish during the traffic stop to arrest Kearse at his home. Kearse was initially convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm and sentenced to death in 1991. The Florida Supreme Court later found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing.
Kearse again drew the death penalty in 1997. Hours before Tuesday's execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Kearse's final appeal without comment. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Kearse.
The convicted felon, 53-year-old Billy Leon Kearse, was asked by the warden if he had any final words. Kearse said all he could do was ask for forgiveness from the officer's family. "To his family, I sincerely apologize for what I've done," Kearse said. "There is no way I can ever repay that."
Kearse was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. following a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.
It was another quarter of an hour before a medic entered the room and pronounced Kearse dead. He was condemned for the 1991 fatal shooting of Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parish. More than a dozen family members and police officers gathered in the chamber to observe the execution.
After the execution, Parrish's widow, Mirtha Busbin, said she has found peace. "It's been a long, long 35 years," Busbin said. "We didn't win anything though; we lost another life, but we did get justice."
Busbin, who works as a victim advocate for the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, said she didn't expect Kearse to apologize, but she did appreciate it. "I can forgive him, I can move on," Busbin said. "It was the right thing to do."
Court records show Parrish had pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. After Kearse couldn't produce a valid driver's license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him when a physical struggle ensued.
Kearse grabbed Parrish's firearm during the struggle and fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor, prosecutors said. A taxi driver heard the shots and called for help on the officer's radio, but Parrish died after being rushed to a hospital.
Police used license plate information called in by Parrish during the traffic stop to arrest Kearse at his home. Kearse was initially convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm and sentenced to death in 1991. The Florida Supreme Court later found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing.
Kearse again drew the death penalty in 1997. Hours before Tuesday's execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Kearse's final appeal without comment. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Kearse.
For corrections or revisions, click here.
The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
Comments