A five-time convicted murderer executed in Florida on Tuesday used his last words to thank those responsible for his impending death as he became the 26th person executed in the US this year — surpassing last year’s grim total.
Michael Bernard Bell, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the Florida State Prison, said Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Surprisingly, Bell — who was sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of two people outside of a bar in 1993 — used his final breaths to show gratitude.
“Thank you for not letting me spend the rest of my life in prison,” he said.
The killer woke up bright and early for his final day at 6:30 a.m. and ate his last meal consisting of classic breakfast foods: an omelet, bacon, home fries and orange juice.
Bell, who killed five people — including a toddler — in his lifetime, only met with a spiritual advisor during his final hours.
Despite his apparent appreciation for his death sentence, Bell’s lawyer had requested that the execution be stayed — which the US Supreme Court had rejected.
The court doubled down on its assertion that Bell should face the music with a 54-page opinion pointing to his guilt even as his legal team insisted they had newly discovered evidence about witness testimony.
Bell was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death for the murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith.
In December 1993, Bell spotted a car driven by West that was previously owned by a man who had killed his brother.
So, he called on two other friends and armed himself with an AK-47 for what he thought would be the vengeful assassination of his brother’s killer. Instead, he gunned down West and Smith, who had no affiliation with his brother’s death, in the car outside a bar, officials said.
Bell also opened fire on a nearby crowd before fleeing the scene. West died at the scene and Smith succumbed to her injuries en route to the hospital while a third passenger escaped unharmed.
He was arrested later that year with three extra murders tacked onto his record. In 1989, he shot and killed a woman and her toddler son. Then, just four months before the bar slaughter, he also killed his mother’s boyfriend, officials said.
Bell’s execution marks the 26th in the US this year, breaking 2024’s morbid total with five more months left to go. He is also the eighth person to be put to death in Florida, a sharp uptick compared to just one last year.
The Sunshine State has executed more people this year than any other state.
On July 31, Edward J. Zakrzewski, II is set to be the ninth executed death row prisoner in Florida this year.
He was found guilty in 1996 for the slaughter of his family after he tried to seek a divorce from his wife, whom he beat with a crowbar and machete before strangling her to death. He also killed their two young children, just 7 and 5 years old, with the same machete.
With Post wires.
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