STARKE, Fla. — Michael Bernard Bell, 54, is set to be executed on Tuesday at Florida State Prison. He was convicted in 1995 for the murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith, which occurred during an attempted revenge killing outside a bar.

Bell's execution will mark the eighth in Florida this year, with another scheduled for later this month. In 2023, Florida has executed six individuals, while only one execution took place in the previous year. Nationwide, 25 men have been executed this year, matching last year's total. Florida leads the nation in executions for 2023, with Texas and South Carolina following closely behind, each with four executions. Alabama has executed three, while Oklahoma has two. Other states, including Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, have each executed one person this year.

The events leading to Bell's conviction date back to December 1993. He believed he had identified the car of the man who had fatally shot his brother earlier that year. Unbeknownst to Bell, the car had been sold to West. Armed with an AK-47 rifle, Bell enlisted the help of two friends. They located the car parked outside a liquor lounge and waited for its occupants.

When West, Smith, and another woman left the club, Bell approached and opened fire. West died at the scene, while Smith succumbed to her injuries en route to the hospital. The third woman escaped unharmed. Witnesses reported that Bell also fired at a crowd of onlookers before fleeing the scene. He was arrested the following year.

In addition to the murders of West and Smith, Bell was convicted of three other murders. He had previously shot a woman and her toddler son in 1989 and killed his mother’s boyfriend about four months before the attack on West and Smith.

Bell's attorneys have filed appeals with both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. They argue that his execution should be halted due to newly discovered evidence regarding witness testimony. However, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected this argument last week, citing overwhelming evidence of Bell's guilt in a detailed 54-page opinion. A similar petition was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, but no ruling has been issued yet.