Michael Bell Executed 7/15/2025
Tonight, the State of Florida executed Michael Bell, carrying out his sentence of death. It was the eighth execution in the State in 2025—matching the record for the highest number in 2014.
Tonight, the State of Florida executed Michael Bell, carrying out his 1995 sentences of death for murdering Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith. It was the Florida’s eighth execution in 2025—matching the record for the highest number of executions in 2014.1 Bell was 54 years old.
Denial of Bell’s Final Claims
As of this morning, Bell had two petitions for writ of certiorari pending at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bell did not file a reply in support of his petition for writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Florida Supreme Court’s decision. Bell’s petition for writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision was fully briefed around 1:30 this afternoon.
Around 5:00 p.m., the Court denied both of Bell’s petitions. There were no dissents in the Court’s denial of the first-filed petition and application for stay:
There were two dissenting votes on Bell’s second-filed petition and application for stay:
Dozier School for Boys
Yesterday, The Marshall Project published an article about the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, which Bell attended when he was 15. Bell is the second death row prisoner executed in Florida in recent years who attended Dozier. Loran Cole, who was executed in August 2024, also attended Dozier. You can find the TFDP post on Dozier here.
The article reports:
Bell is among at least 34 boys who stayed at Dozier and another 16 sent to Okeechobee — a separate boys’ school with a troubled history — who ended up on Florida’s death row, according to a review by The Marshall Project. At least 19 others, and possibly many more, went to prison for murder but were not sentenced to death. Twenty-five of them killed when they were 15, 16, 17 or 18 – soon after departing the reform schools. Combined, men who attended Dozier and Okeechobee have killed at least 114 people.
Information About the Execution
According to its website, the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) held its standard execution briefing schedule. According to the DOC spokesman (as provided to TFDP by John Koch), Bell woke up around 6:30 a.m. His last meal was an omelet, bacon, home fries, and orange juice.
According to AP News, Bell was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. His final words were:
“Thank you for not letting me spend the rest of my life in prison.” - Michael Bell
Statement from Bell’s Niece
Bell’s niece gave the following comment, which was approved for publication:
Michael Bell is my Uncle. I'm the daughter of his brother who passed away named Lamar Bell, I was 2 years old when my dad passed away and never got a chance to meet him and now my uncle who I’ve never meet either is about to leave this earth without saying good bye. Love u uncle Michael
FADP Statement
After the execution, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) issued a statement that said in part:
We executed him despite serious doubts about the integrity of his conviction. We executed him despite torturing him as a teenager at the Dozier School for Boys. His state-sanctioned murder tonight sends the message that the State of Florida does not have to take accountability for the harm it inflicts on its children. It sends the message that prosecutors and law enforcement get to cheat to get a conviction so long as they believe the ends justify the means.
. . . .
In many criminal courtrooms throughout the State of Florida there sits a plaque on the wall emblazoned with the words: “We who labor here seek only the truth.” And yet, Mike’s murder tonight declares that the State of Florida doesn’t actually care about learning the truth. That they purposely choose finality over fairness. Especially when the truth-seeking process threatens to throw a wrench in their now well-oiled machinery of death.
News Articles
TFDP Prior Coverage of the Bell Warrant
2025 Executions
Below is a map of where the crimes occurred that led to the 2025 executions. The relevant county is also where the execution-related litigation is venued in each case.
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant- and execution-related process.
There has to be something wrong with the legal system when it takes 30 years for a death sentence to be carried out.
Rest in Peace 🕯