Billy Leon Kearse shot dead Danny Parrish, a police officer in Fort Pierce, Florida, after the cop had pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street

Billy Leon Kearse was given the three-drug injection on death row

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Billy Leon Kearse was given the three-drug injection on death row(Image: Florida Department of Correction)

A murderer on death row used his last words to apologise to the family of a police officer who he shot dead 35 years ago.

Billy Leon Kearse was finally executed today for the killing of Danny Parrish, and so became the third person put to death by Florida this year already. The 53-year-old man muttered an apology to the victim’s family, some of whom were present at Florida State Prison near Starke, to see Kearse receive a three-drug injection

PC Parrish’s widow, Mirtha Busbin, said she was surprised Kearse apologised but stressed she could forgive the man. She said: “I can forgive him, I can move on. It was the right thing to do… It’s been a long, long 35 years. We didn’t win anything though; we lost another life, but we did get justice.”

Before he was given the jab, Kearse said: “To his family, I sincerely apologise for what I’ve done. There is no way I can ever repay that.” The last words had referred to the attack in 1991 when Kearse used PC Parrish’s own service weapon to fire 14 times following a vehicle stop.

 

Danny Parish

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PC Danny Parrish was shot dead on duty in 1991(Image: Courtesy of Mirtha Busbin)

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Police officers also gathered to witness the execution, supporting PC Parrish’s family. They continue to champion for severe – and quicker – punishment for those who abuse or attack police officers across the US.

PC Parrish, also a sergeant in the US Army, had stopped Kearse’s car after he had driven the wrong way down a one-way street, and then failed to show the cop his driver’s licence. Kearse swiped PC Parrish’s revolver after he eventually got out of the vehicle, and the thug fired bullets at the man.

A taxi driver heard the shots and called for help on the officer’s radio, but PC Parrish died after being rushed to a hospital. Police used licence plate information called in by PC 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 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.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, far outpacing Alabama, South Carolina and Texas which each held five executions last year. The 19 Florida executions that year outstripped the previous high totals of eight in both 1984 and 2014.