Convicted 30 years ago for gunning down a young Jacksonville couple in what was supposed to be in retaliation for his brother’s death, Michael Bernard Bell is set to become Florida’s eight execution this year on July 15.
Bell, now 54, also killed three other people ― a couple and toddler son ― in 1989 before the 1993 revenge killing but was only sentenced to 25 years.
In June his attorneys introduced new affidavits signed by men who were inmates at the time who had testified against Bell at trial. They said the same lead detective and prosecutor coerced them into lying on the stand. But the men recanted once they were brought before the judge on June 23.
What did Michael Bell do?
Bell was convicted two years after gunning down 22-year-old Jimmy West and 18-year-old Tamecka Smith outside Moncrief Liquors in 1993, believing the man killed his brother earlier that year.
Prosecutors said Bell had publicly swore to avenge his brother’s death and plotted it for months. Theodore Wright had killed Lamar Bell in June 1993 in self-defense, according to court records.
That Dec. 8, Bell bought an AK-47 rifle through a girlfriend and then waited the next night outside the lounge after locating the yellow Plymouth that Wright was known to drive. He opened fire on the young couple who got into the car. But Wright had sold the car to West, his half-brother.
Could there be a stay of Michael Bell’s execution?
The Florida Supreme Court already rejected a plea to halt the execution a week ahead of the scheduled date. Justices unanimously rejected Bell’s arguments concerning the newly discovered evidence related to witness testimony. Part of the ruling pointed to “overwhelming evidence of Bell’s guilt.”
But the defense filed another similar petition to the Supreme Court on July 11 that was pending at the time of publication.
A Jacksonville judge also had already denied last-ditch efforts for post-conviction relief just one day after Bell’s June 24 evidentiary hearing concerning the same allegations of false testimony. The judge stated a lack of timeliness considering the defense had 30 years to come up with this information and a failure to meet the burden of proof.
Of the six people who testified at the hearing, most pleaded to their Fifth Amendment rights to remain silent or repeatedly said “I do not recall.”
What time is Michael Bell’s execution?
Bell is scheduled to be lethally injected at 6 p.m. July 15 in Florida State Prison in Raiford, which is in Bradford County.
Who else from Jacksonville is on death row?
A total of 34 inmates from Duval County cases are currently on death row, not including the “Mayport Monster” William Wells who didn’t get sentenced to death until 2021 after killing an inmate while incarcerated in the state prison in Bradford County.
How many inmates has Florida executed?
Since 1924 the state has executed 309 inmates. Florida is on pace to set the record for most executions in the state for one calendar year ― eight in 1984 and 2014.
Who was the last to be executed in Florida?
Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, was put to death on June 24.
He was convicted in 1995 for the murder of Michelle McGrath, whose battered body was found in an alley in downtown Orlando after prosecutors said Gudinas attacked after previously attempting to assault another woman who got away.
Opposition to death penalty, as executions are protested
Several religious leaders from across the state recently marched to the state Capitol to call on Gov. Ron DeSantis to protest concerns about increased executions in Florida and are likely to continue to speak out.
“We do not believe that killing people, ultimately, is the answer to these grave crimes,” the Rev. Dustin Feddon said in a News Service of Florida report.
DeSantis also recently signed a death warrant for Edward Zakrzewski, who was convicted of using a crowbar and a machete to murder his wife and two children in 1994 in Okaloosa County. Zakrzewski, 60, is slated to be executed July 31.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville man set to die July 15: Key things to know about Michael Bell’s execution
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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