<p class="speakable">A <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/southeast/florida" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Florida man</a> who prosecutors say wrestled a police officer’s service weapon away during a 1991 traffic stop and fatally shot him is scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals.</p><p class="speakable">Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection beginning at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke.</p><p>Kearse was sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm. The Florida Supreme Court later ruled that jurors were not properly instructed on aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing hearing. He was resentenced to death in 1997.</p><p>Kearse’s execution would mark the state’s third in 2026, following a record 19 executions in 2025.</p><p>Republican Gov. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/ron-desantis" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Ron DeSantis</a> signed more death warrants last year than any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Before that, the highest number in a single year was eight in 1984 and 2014 under governors Bob Graham and Rick Scott, respectively.</p><p>Court records show Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish stopped Kearse in January 1991 for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. After Kearse failed to produce a valid driver’s license and resisted being handcuffed, a struggle broke out.</p><p>During the confrontation, Kearse grabbed Parrish’s firearm and fired 14 shots, striking <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/police-and-law-enforcement" rel="noopener" target="_blank">the officer</a> nine times and hitting his body armor four times, prosecutors said. A nearby taxi driver heard the gunfire and used Parrish’s radio to call for help.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-executes-man-convicted-killing-airman-girlfriend-home-invasion" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>FLORIDA EXECUTES MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING AIRMAN AND GIRLFRIEND IN 1987 HOME INVASION</strong></a></p><p>Parrish was taken to a hospital, where he died from his wounds.</p><p>Investigators used license plate information Parrish had radioed in before the struggle to identify Kearse’s vehicle and home address. He was arrested shortly afterward.</p><p>Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/politics/judiciary/appeals" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Kearse’s appeals</a>, in which his attorneys argued he was deprived of a fair penalty phase and that his intellectual disability made him ineligible for execution. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal Tuesday without comment.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-executes-richard-barry-randolph-convicted-raping-killing-former-convenience-store-manager" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>FLORIDA EXECUTES RICHARD BARRY RANDOLPH CONVICTED OF RAPING, KILLING FORMER CONVENIENCE STORE MANAGER</strong></a></p><p>A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. last year. Florida carried out the most, outpacing Texas, South Carolina and Alabama, which each conducted five executions.</p><p>Two more executions are scheduled in Florida this month. Michael Lee King, 54, is set to be executed March 17. James Aren Duckett, 68, is scheduled for March 31.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP</strong></a></p><p>Duckett, a former police officer, was convicted in 1987 of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/sex-crimes" rel="noopener" target="_blank">raping and murdering</a> 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. At the time, he was working for the Mascotte Police Department when McAbee was last seen getting into his patrol car outside a convenience store. Her body was later found less than a mile away in a lake. Authorities said she had been sexually battered, strangled and drowned.</p><p><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</i></p>