21 November 2025 :
November 20, 2025 - Florida. Richard Randolph, now Malik Abdul-Sajjad, 63, Black, was executed.
Richard Randolph (Malik Abdul-Sajjad) was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Randolph was sentenced to death in 1989 for the August 1988 murder of Minnie Ruth McCollum
It is Florida’s 17th death sentence carried out in 2025, further extending the state record for total executions in a single year. Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas with five each.
Governor DeSantis spokesman, Alex Lanfranconi, said there were no complications during the procedure and that Randolph had no last words.
According to court records, Randolph attempted to break into the safe at the Handy-Way convenience store in Palatka, where he had previously worked, in August 1988. Randolph was spotted by the manager, Minnie Ruth McCollum, and the two began to struggle.
Randolph then beat, strangled, stabbed and raped McCollum before leaving the store and taking the woman's car, court records show.
Three women witnessed Randolph leaving the store and called the sheriff's office after seeing through the window that the store was in disarray. A deputy responded and found McCollum still alive. She was taken to a hospital in a coma and died six days later of severe brain injuries, according to doctors.
Randolph was arrested shortly after the attack at a Jacksonville grocery store while trying to borrow money and cash in lottery tickets stolen from the convenience store, according to deputies. Investigators said Randolph admitted to the attack and directed them to bloody clothing that he had discarded.
In February 1989, Randolph was found guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery, sexual battery and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
The jury found multiple mitigating circumstances, including the fact Randolph was addicted to crack cocaine, but the court said these did not outweigh the aggravating factors.
Eight out of 12 jurors recommended a death sentence, leading the judge to sentence him to death on April 5, 1989.
Florida is one of the only states in the country that doesn’t require a unanimous jury recommendation to hand down a death sentence.
Randolph filed a number of appeals over the years, but all were denied.
The day of the execution, members of the Our Lady of Lourdes church in Daytona Beach stepped off a contracted coach bus onto the lawn across from Florida State Prison on Thursday for the 17th time this year. They headed to a spot on the lawn marked by a wooden sign labeled “opponents”. Of the approximately 55 people standing on this side of the lawn, the majority belong to the church. The few not with the church included the Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Executive Director Grace Hanna. She has expressed to The Alligator several times that executing people doesn’t bring back their victims. Debbie Vomero, a volunteer for the prison ministry of the Diocese of St. Augustine, shares similar sentiments. Her opposition to the death penalty not only stems from her beliefs as a Catholic, but also her personal relationship with death row. Her pen pal, Darryl Barwick, was executed by Florida in 2023. Vomero opposes the death penalty in every case. “God brought them into the world, and God should decide when he brings them home,” she said. “Every single time we have some of these executions, every single time, we are taking people’s dignity away,” he said.
On the other side of the lawn, separated by a large tree, stood Bill Campbell by a wooden sign almost identical to the other side’s. The only difference: it had the words “supporters” carved onto it.
Campbell started coming to the prison to show his support for the death penalty after hearing about people coming to protest the practice. “I’m out here because the protesters are out here protesting against good state government,” he said. “How about complaining about the poor woman getting murdered?”
Florida Department of Corrections Communications Director Jordan Kirkland said in a press conference outside the prison, “The victim’s family wanted me to thank the governor on their behalf.”
Randolph becomes the 17th person executed this year in Florida, the 123rd overall since Florida resumed capital punishment in 1979, the 44th person to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,651st overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014.
Two more executions are planned for next month in Florida: Dec. 12 and Dec. 18.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-man-richard-barry-randolph-execution-convicted-raping-killing-former-manager/
https://www.alligator.org/article/2025/11/florida-man-executed-for-1988-palatka-rape-and-murder
