Posted on 03/04/2026 4:38:06 AM PST by TheDon
RAIFORD, Fla. — Billy Leon Kearse, the Fort Pierce man convicted of shooting and killing a police sergeant 35 years ago, was declared dead at 6:24 p.m. He declined his last meal in the hours before his scheduled execution at Florida State Prison.
The Florida Supreme Court officially denied his final appeal earlier the same day.
Kearse was sentenced to death for the 1991 shooting death of 29-year-old Fort Pierce Police Sgt. Danny Parrish. WPTV has covered this case for decades, tracking it from sentencing to this moment.
...
In his final words, Kearse asked the Parrish family for forgiveness, acknowledging his death would not repay the death of Sgt. Danny Parrish.
"To his family, I sincerely apologize for what I have done," Kearse said, looking at the crowd. "And in turn, I pray my father would give me the strength to ask their forgiveness to give you peace and resolve."
Kearse convulsed in the first few moments of the execution. The family appeared relatively emotionless.
Kearse was sentenced to death for the 1991 shooting death of 29-year-old Parrish during a traffic stop. Prosecutors say Kearse shot Parrish 14 times. A struggle ensued when Parrish attempted to arrest Kearse for having no license and providing a false name.
...
35 years on death row. Our justice system has reached new levels of absurdity.
30+ years on death row is not only the average for Florida but nationally as well.
The last execution carried out was Ronald Heath.
He was on death row for just about the same amount of time.
Side note: my wife and I knew Heath as teens and we all used to hang out in a larger group and he seemed normal.
His first murder was at 16 y/o, did 15 of 30 years, got out and killed AGAIN.
A lot wrong with all that.
Fort Pierce is where the Holiday Inn Station wagon ran into the back of me, broke my tail licht and dented my trunk.
Fort Pierce is the place where the cop gave me a ticket for having a broken tail light
Fort Pierce is the place where I was required to appear in court or month hence or pay a $100 fine
Fort Pierce is where I went to the police department to obtain a copy of the accident report and was refused because obtaining the report required a written request
Fort Pierce is where I asked for a piece of paper and produced a written request on the spot and grudgingly was provided the report
Beware of Fort Pierce
“His first murder was at 16 y/o, did 15 of 30 years, got out and killed AGAIN.
A lot wrong with all that.”
Execution immediately upon conviction prevents this from happening.
When I was a kid they used to still execute using Ol’ Sparky. We would go around turning off all the electrical devices in the house symbolically just to make sure the chair got enough juice during the felon fry.
Next time you need a document in Florida.
Florida statute 119 states any and all public documents will be made available upon demand failure to produce said documents will require the circuit court to clear the schedule and the case heard the next morning.
The bubble gum chewing clerk officer required the demand to be in writing
She did however make me a photocopy of the demand letter
What a waste of taxpayers’ money...35 years on death row.
Well, you certainly miss the point. How many lawyers were fed well defending and prosecuting all the legal crap that occurred during that 35 years? Lawyer welfare is important to the country. /S
I was living in FL when they zapped Bundy.
The local drive-time station were requesting recipes for the zapped pervert. One I remember was “Cajun Bundy Gumbo”.
Should be 5 years max between conviction and execution. I am being overly generous here.
“Execution immediately upon conviction prevents this from happening.”
…yep!
Although you'd expect just about every one to say "I didn't do it...I'm innocent" a surprising percentage actually acknowledge their guilt and ask for the God's...and the family's...forgiveness. I find that to be very interesting. And I suspect that words of that sort indicate that the guy in question has at least a hint of decency in him.
I also recall seeing a photo of demonstrators outside the prison as the time drew near...some against the DP,some in favor. Among the many signs of the supporters it showed my favorite was "Have A Seat,Ted"
A local fast food place had a sign that said “Free Fries When Ted Fries”.
35 years is a sick, pathetic joke.
35 days is plenty. Like the guy who tried to kill FDR in 1932
Wow Bert, sorry your experience went so badly, but thanks for sharing the yarn.
At age 23, I flew to the Bahamas as pilot of a (very) light plane, with Fort Pierce airport as the US port of departure and entry. The customs officer for general aviation was unbelievably nice, to the point of being concerned we did not drop the bottles of Rum we brought back. So, oddly, my memory of Fort Pierce and officials is the opposite of yours.
But I did have a “these guys suck” experience like yours with the people and officials at Nassau in the Bahamas. The out island we ended up at seemed like a simple paradise though.
Funny how each memory of those places is such an extreme.
We want to make sure we execute the right guy. I would propose that lawyers who file frivolous and/or delaying lawsuits be charged for court costs and prisoner maintenance costs should their lawsuits be deemed meritless. That would get rid of a lot of delay. Lawyers could chalk up their financial losses as PRO BONO work.
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