Death Row

Richard Randolph | Florida Death Row | The Murder of Minnie

Richard Randolph is a Florida death row inmate scheduled for execution on November 20, 2025, for the 1988 robbery, violent assault, and murder of his former convenience-store manager, Minnie Ruth McCollum, at a Handy-Way in East Palatka, Putnam County. A one-time employee who returned before dawn to steal from the safe, Randolph turned a planned theft into a deadly attack that left McCollum mortally injured and a small town stunned.

Richard Barry Randolph photo

Richard Randolph | Pic Credit – Murderpedia

Last updated: November 4, 2025

Richard Randolph | Florida Death Row

  • Full Name: Richard Barry Randolph
  • AKA: Malik Abdul-Sajjad
  • Born: January 3, 1962
  • Crimes: First-degree murder, armed robbery, sexual assault, grand theft
  • Victim: Minnie Ruth McCollum (convenience-store manager and former supervisor)
  • Crime Date & Location: August 15, 1988 – Handy-Way convenience store, East Palatka, Putnam County, Florida
  • Arrested: August 15, 1988 (same day, in Jacksonville while attempting to use stolen lottery tickets)
  • Convicted: 1989 – jury conviction for first-degree murder and related felonies; jury recommended death 8–4; judge imposed death sentence in 1990
  • Sentence: Death (Florida death row, DC# 115769)
  • Current Status: On Florida death row; execution scheduled for November 20, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. ET at Florida State Prison

Classification & Characteristics

Offender Type:
Intimate workplace murderer / robbery-murder offender.

Known For:

  • Returning to a former job site – a Handy-Way convenience store in East Palatka – to rob the safe and violently attack his former manager.
  • Leaving the scene after staging a cover story, locking the store, taking the victim’s car and using stolen lottery tickets, which ultimately helped police track him down. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+1

Behavioral / Case Notes:
Randolph fits the pattern of a situational, profit-driven killer rather than a long-term serial predator. The evidence paints him as a desperate former employee who knew the store’s routines and exploited that knowledge during an early-morning robbery attempt.

When confronted by Minnie Ruth McCollum, he escalated to extreme violence, including a sexual element to the assault and left her gravely injured on the floor of the closed store. people.smu.edu+2ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2

Psychologically, the record shows a man whose life history includes childhood abuse, adoption, and military service, later followed by substance abuse and unstable employment. At sentencing, defense experts attributed his behavior in part to trauma and mental-health problems, while the state emphasized the cruelty of the attack, his attempts to clean up and deceive witnesses, and his calm efforts to spend stolen lottery tickets shortly afterward.

His case sits in the uncomfortable space where mitigation exists, but the violence of the crime and the vulnerability of the victim drove the system toward death.

Timeline of the Richard Randolph Case →

  • 01/03/1962 – Richard Barry Randolph is born. Online Sunshine
  • Mid-1980s – Works at a Handy-Way convenience store in East Palatka, Florida; later leaves that employment. people.smu.edu+2Online Sunshine+2
  • 08/15/1988 (early morning) – Randolph returns to the store before opening, wearing a Handy-Way smock; attempts to break into the safe. Manager Minnie Ruth McCollum confronts him; a violent struggle follows. people.smu.edu+2ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2
  • 08/15/1988 (~7 a.m.) – Regular customer and store custodians see Randolph locking the door and driving away in McCollum’s car after giving a suspicious explanation about car trouble. Looking through the windows, they see the store in disarray and call police. people.smu.edu+1
  • 08/15/1988 (shortly afterward) – Deputies force entry and find McCollum on the floor in the back area, badly beaten and partially unclothed, with a knife nearby. She is still alive and transported to a hospital in a coma. people.smu.edu+2Online Sunshine+2
  • 08/15/1988 (later that day) – Randolph is arrested at a Jacksonville grocery store while attempting to borrow money and cash in lottery tickets stolen from the Handy-Way. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2people.smu.edu+2
  • 08/21/1988 – McCollum dies at the hospital six days after the attack from severe head injuries and complications from the assault. people.smu.edu+2ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2
  • 1989 – Randolph is tried in Putnam County, Florida. A jury convicts him of first-degree murder, armed robbery, sexual battery, and grand theft. The jury recommends death by a vote of 8–4; the judge imposes a death sentence. Justia+2Justia+2
  • 1990 – Florida Supreme Court unanimously affirms Randolph’s conviction and death sentence on direct appeal. Justia+1
  • 2003 – The Florida Supreme Court affirms the denial of his initial postconviction motion and denies a related state habeas petition. people.smu.edu+2CC Frontend Template+2
  • 2009 – The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denies federal habeas relief after a lengthy opinion reviewing ineffective-assistance claims and other issues. people.smu.edu+1
  • 2010–2017 – Randolph files additional state postconviction motions, including claims premised on Ring v. Arizona; they are denied as untimely or procedurally barred. people.smu.edu+2CC Frontend Template+2
  • 2017–2021 – Files a second successive postconviction motion seeking relief under Hurst v. Florida and Hurst v. State (non-unanimous jury / judge-sentencing scheme). In 2021, the Florida Supreme Court denies relief, holding Hurst is not retroactive to cases final before Ring (as in Randolph’s). Justia+2Midpage+2
  • 2022 – U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari on the Hurst-related challenge, leaving the 2021 Florida decision intact. Supreme Court+1
  • Dec 5, 2024 – Florida Supreme Court rejects Randolph’s third successive postconviction motion based on “newly discovered” evidence about his biological parents and alleged “good genes,” finding it would not have changed his sentence. Tampa Free Press+1
  • Oct 21–22, 2025 – Governor DeSantis signs a death warrant scheduling Randolph’s execution for November 20, 2025, amid a record-setting year of Florida executions. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2aol.com+2
  • Nov 20, 2025 (scheduled) – Execution date by lethal injection at Florida State Prison, Starke, Florida, pending last-minute state and federal litigation and any clemency action.

Case Summary

Richard Randolph, a former employee of a Handy-Way convenience store in East Palatka, returned before opening hours on August 15, 1988, to steal from the safe. When his former manager, Minnie Ruth McCollum, interrupted him, the robbery exploded into a brutal attack that included severe beating, stabbing, and a sexual assault; Randolph then locked the store, drove off in her car, and tried to cash stolen lottery tickets in Jacksonville. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2people.smu.edu+2

McCollum was discovered alive but critically injured and died six days later. A Putnam County jury convicted Randolph of first-degree murder and related felonies in 1989, recommending a death sentence by an 8–4 vote, which the trial judge imposed. Decades of appeals – including challenges based on non-unanimous jury recommendations under Hurst and new mitigation about his biological parents – have failed, and a 2025 death warrant now places Randolph in the narrow window between death row and the execution chamber. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+4Justia+4Midpage+4

→ Quick Answers

  • Richard Barry Randolph – Florida death row inmate convicted of the 1988 robbery, violent assault, and murder of Handy-Way store manager Minnie Ruth McCollum in East Palatka (Putnam County). ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+1
  • Where now: Florida death row, DC# 115769. He is housed in the Florida DOC capital system and is slated to be moved to Florida State Prison in Starke for execution under the current warrant. Online Sunshine+2ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2
  • Current legal stage: Pre-execution warrant litigation. Direct appeal, initial postconviction, and federal habeas review are complete; successive postconviction motions were denied in 2021 (Hurst claims) and 2024 (“good genes” mitigation). The case is now in the narrow, expedited phase of warrant-related challenges in state and federal courts. people.smu.edu+3Justia+3Midpage+3
  • Appeals posture: Direct appeal affirmed his conviction and death sentence in 1990. Justia+1
  • Initial postconviction and state habeas relief denied in 2003; federal habeas denied by the Eleventh Circuit in 2009. people.smu.edu+2CC Frontend Template+2
  • Hurst-based successive motion denied by the Florida Supreme Court in 2021; U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in 2022. Supreme Court+3Justia+3Midpage+3
  • Third successive motion based on new evidence about his biological parents denied in 2024. Tampa Free Press+1
  • Mandate issued: Yes. Mandates issued long ago in his direct appeal, postconviction, and federal habeas cases; the 2021 Hurst decision and 2024 “good genes” ruling are also final, leaving no pending merits appeal outside of warrant-phase litigation. CC Frontend Template+4Justia+4Midpage+4

Stay / Warrant / Window:

🕊️ Victim of Richard Randolph

Minnie Ruth McCollum
Minnie McCollum was the manager of a Handy-Way convenience store in East Palatka, Florida, and Randolph’s former supervisor. On August 15, 1988, she confronted him inside the closed store as he attempted to get into the safe, and the encounter turned into a violent assault in the rear area of the business. She was discovered by deputies in critical condition and transported to a hospital, where she died six days later from severe head injuries and complications from the attack. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2people.smu.edu+2

→ FAQs

Why was Richard Barry Randolph sentenced to death instead of life in prison?

Randolph’s death sentence rests on the combination of felony murder during a robbery, the brutal nature of the attack, and the vulnerability of the victim. Prosecutors emphasized that he returned to a former workplace to rob the safe, used his familiarity with the store to gain access, violently assaulted his former manager in a back room, then locked the store, drove away in her car, and attempted to spend stolen lottery tickets. The jury recommended death by an 8–4 vote, and the trial judge found multiple aggravating factors – including that the killing occurred during a robbery and was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel – outweighed his mitigation. Online Sunshine+4Justia+4Justia+4
Sources: Florida Supreme Court (1990), Capital Cases summary, SMU Death Penalty Roundup, AP/KAAL report.

What is the main legal controversy in Randolph’s case?

Legally, Randolph’s case is often cited as an example of Florida’s pre-Hurst death penalty scheme: his jury’s recommendation for death was not unanimous (8–4), and the trial judge had a dominant role in the final sentencing. After Hurst v. Florida and Hurst v. State required unanimous jury findings for death, Randolph argued his sentence was unconstitutional. But because his case was final long before Ring v. Arizona (2002), the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Hurst does not apply retroactively to him, leaving his non-unanimous death sentence in place. Earlier, the court also criticized but ultimately upheld a controversial ex parte role a prosecutor played in helping draft the original sentencing order, finding it did not require a new penalty phase. CC Frontend Template+4Justia+4Midpage+4
Sources: Randolph v. State (Fla. 2021), Death Penalty Information Center summary, SMU Death Penalty Roundup.

Has Randolph claimed innocence or asked for a reduced sentence?

Randolph has not built his post-trial litigation around factual innocence; his own statements and the physical evidence tied him to the attack. Instead, his appeals focused on sentencing issues: ineffective assistance of counsel, improper judicial/prosecutorial conduct in drafting the sentencing order, non-unanimous jury issues under Hurst, and most recently, “newly discovered” mitigation evidence about his biological parents. In 2024, he argued that learning his birth parents had “successful lives” undercut assumptions about his genetic predisposition to violence, but the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected that claim, saying it would not have changed the balance of aggravation and mitigation. Midpage+3people.smu.edu+3Tampa Free Press+3
Sources: Florida Supreme Court (2024), Tampa Free Press coverage, Eleventh Circuit opinion.

How does Randolph’s scheduled execution fit into Florida’s recent execution surge?

Randolph’s November 20, 2025 execution date comes in a year where Florida has shattered its modern record for executions. With his warrant, Governor Ron DeSantis will have scheduled at least 17 executions in 2025, surpassing the previous state record of eight in a single year and making Florida a national outlier as overall U.S. executions continue a long-term decline. Randolph’s warrant was signed just days after the warrant for Norman Mearle Grim Jr. and one week after the scheduled execution of Bryan Frederick Jennings, underscoring the compressed timetable and political scrutiny on Florida’s death-penalty machinery. ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+2aol.com+2

Richard Barry Randolph | Florida Death Row

Richard Barry Randolph | Florida Death Row

👉 The Story

The Handy-Way Store and a Familiar Face at the Door

On the morning of August 15, 1988, the Handy-Way convenience store in East Palatka should have been going through its quiet opening routine – coffee pots burbling, newspapers stacked, regulars drifting in. Instead, three women arrived to find the front door locked and Richard Barry Randolph, a former employee, standing outside in a Handy-Way smock, key in hand.

Randolph told them a story: the manager, Minnie Ruth McCollum, had car trouble and had taken his car; he was locking up to go pick her up. To a regular customer and the two custodians who had come to clean the store, the explanation felt off – but Randolph drove away in McCollum’s car, and for a moment the scene went quiet.

When the women tried the door and found it still locked, they pressed their faces to the glass. Inside, nothing looked right. The security camera hung from the ceiling, wires yanked out and draped into a tipped-over trash can. The counter area was in disarray. The back room door, normally propped open, was nearly shut. It looked less like a store getting ready for business and more like the aftermath of a struggle – and they called the sheriff.

The Back Room and the Broken Routine

Deputies arrived, forced the door, and walked into a silent, disrupted store – shelves still, air heavy. In the back, they found Minnie Ruth McCollum on the floor, gravely injured, partially unclothed, a knife nearby, the scene showing a combination of beating, strangulation, stabbing, and sexual assault. She was still alive, barely, breathing and moaning. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital; she would never regain consciousness.

For investigators, the story that unfolded was stark. Randolph, who knew the store’s routines and where the safe was, had come before opening to force open the safe and steal cash and lottery tickets. When McCollum confronted him, the robbery turned into a violent attack in the back area, outside the sightline of customers but inside the store she ran every day.

He then tried to cover his tracks: disabling the camera, leaving McCollum on the floor, locking the door, and driving off in her car like nothing more had happened than a small mechanical mishap.

Six days later, in a hospital bed, Minnie McCollum’s injuries caught up with her. Her death turned the case from a life-or-death struggle into a capital murder.

Arrest in Jacksonville and a Trail of Lottery Tickets

Randolph’s escape plan unraveled quickly. Later that same day, he showed up at a Jacksonville grocery store, carrying lottery tickets traced back to the Handy-Way and trying to raise money. Witnesses said he was attempting to borrow cash and cash in the tickets – stolen property from the store he had just left behind with his former manager barely clinging to life.

Deputies arrested him, and investigators later testified that Randolph led them to bloody clothing he had discarded. His girlfriend, Norma Betts, told authorities he admitted robbing the store and attacking McCollum, and that he planned to head north afterward. The story that had sounded plausible for a moment outside Handy-Way – the car trouble, the favor for his boss – crumbled under a web of physical evidence and his own admissions.

From Trial to an 8–4 Death Recommendation

In 1989, a Putnam County jury heard the case. The prosecution framed Randolph as a former employee who turned insider knowledge into an opportunity: hit the store when the manager was alone, take the cash, and leave no witness. The violent nature of the assault – beating, stabbing, strangulation, and the sexual component – became central to the state’s argument that this was not a robbery gone sideways, but a deliberate, cruel killing of a woman who trusted him.

The defense highlighted Randolph’s difficult upbringing, adoption, childhood abuse, and later military service – he had served in the Army and been honorably discharged – casting him as a traumatized, substance-abusing man whose life had spiraled out of control. They emphasized his intoxication and emotional instability as mitigating factors.

The jury was not unanimous but leaned heavily toward the ultimate punishment: 8–4 for death. The judge followed that recommendation and sentenced Randolph to die, finding multiple aggravators and weighing them more heavily than the mitigation offered.

Decades of Appeals: Ex Parte Drafting, Hurst, and “Good Genes”

On direct appeal in 1990, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed both the conviction and death sentence, reciting the facts from the Handy-Way store and the medical evidence of McCollum’s injuries.

Postconviction litigation, however, unearthed an unusual wrinkle: a law clerk for the trial judge testified that the prosecutor had helped draft the sentencing order in chambers, without defense counsel present. The Florida Supreme Court sharply criticized this ex parte collaboration but ultimately concluded it did not prejudice Randolph enough to require a new sentencing. That issue became a recurring point in his later appeals and federal habeas case.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Randolph’s lawyers shifted to broader constitutional arguments. After Ring v. Arizona and Hurst v. Florida / Hurst v. State, they claimed his non-unanimous jury recommendation and judge-centered sentencing procedure were unconstitutional. But Florida’s high court applied its retroactivity doctrine and held that Hurst does not reach defendants whose sentences were final before Ring in 2002 – a category that includes Randolph. His 2021 Hurst-based motion was denied, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in 2022.

Most recently, Randolph tried a different angle: “good genes.” After locating his biological parents and learning they had relatively stable, successful lives, he argued that this new information undermined earlier mitigation theories about a genetic predisposition to violence and could have helped him at sentencing. In December 2024, the Florida Supreme Court rejected that claim, concluding that his birth parents’ success didn’t meaningfully change the calculus of his crime, his culpability, or the aggravating factors in the case.

A Death Warrant in a Record-Breaking Year

When Governor Ron DeSantis signed Randolph’s death warrant in October 2025, it came against a backdrop of record Florida executions. With Randolph’s date set for November 20, 2025, he became the seventeenth person scheduled for execution in the state that year, in a blitz of warrants that has drawn national criticism from death-penalty opponents and praise from some law-and-order advocates.

A Florida Supreme Court scheduling order followed almost immediately, giving lawyers just days to litigate warrant-phase claims. Short deadlines, dense records, and the shadow of earlier non-unanimous juries have made Randolph’s case a touchstone for debates over how much process is enough when the state is poised to carry out a sentence imposed more than three decades earlier.

Legal Status | Paper Trail | Richard Randolph

  • 1989–1990 (Trial & Direct Appeal)
  • Convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, sexual battery, and grand theft in Putnam County.
  • Jury recommends death 8–4; judge imposes death.
  • Florida Supreme Court affirms conviction and death sentence in Randolph v. State, 562 So. 2d 331 (Fla. 1990); U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari. Justia+2Justia+2
  • 2003 (Initial Postconviction & State Habeas)
  • Trial court denies his first Rule 3.851 postconviction motion.
  • Florida Supreme Court affirms denial and also denies a petition for habeas corpus challenging appellate counsel’s performance. people.smu.edu+2CC Frontend Template+2
  • 2009 (Federal Habeas)
  • U.S. District Court denies federal habeas relief in a lengthy order.
  • Eleventh Circuit affirms denial in Randolph v. McNeil, upholding the death sentence against claims of ineffective assistance and other constitutional errors. Supreme Court+1
  • 2010–2013 (Ring / Successive State Litigation)
  • Files successive petitions seeking relief under Ring v. Arizona; Florida Supreme Court denies habeas relief. people.smu.edu+2CC Frontend Template+2
  • 2017–2021 (Hurst Litigation)
  • Files a second successive 3.851 motion, arguing Hurst v. Florida and Hurst v. State invalidate his non-unanimous death sentence and judge-centered fact-finding.
  • In Randolph v. State, 320 So. 3d 629 (Fla. 2021), Florida Supreme Court rules Hurst is not retroactive to defendants whose sentences were final before Ring and affirms denial of relief.
  • U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari in 2022. people.smu.edu+4Justia+4Midpage+4
  • 2024 (Third Successive Postconviction)
  • Files 3rd successive motion based on newly discovered mitigation about his biological parents (“good genes” claim).
  • Florida Supreme Court affirms denial on December 5, 2024, holding the evidence would not likely have changed the sentencing outcome. Tampa Free Press+1
  • 2025 (Death Warrant & Warrant-Phase Litigation)
  • Gov. DeSantis signs a death warrant on October 21, 2025, scheduling execution for November 20, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at Florida State Prison. people.smu.edu+3ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com+3aol.com+3
  • Florida Supreme Court issues an expedited schedule for warrant-phase appeals (all briefing completed by Nov 10, 2025; no clemency granted). people.smu.edu+2people.smu.edu+2

Richard Randolph | Florida Death Row

📚 Additional Resources

  1. Florida Supreme Court – Randolph v. State (2021, Hurst-related ruling)
  2. SMU “Oct. 22 – Death Penalty News and Updates” (warrant, case background, and legal history)
  3. AP/KAAL – “Florida sets execution date for man who raped and murdered his former manager at a convenience store”

👉 (You can also cross-check details with the Florida Capital Cases page for DC# 115769 and the 1990 Florida Supreme Court direct-appeal opinion.) Justia+3Online Sunshine+3Online Sunshine+3

📚 Further Reading / Watching

  • Blood & Truth: The True Story of a Lie – The case of Paul William Scott, a Florida death row prisoner, explored through claims of wrongful conviction and the realities of capital punishment. X (formerly Twitter)
  • Death Row Romeo: The True Story of Serial Killer Oscar Ray Bolin (Florida Forensic Files, Book 1) – A Florida death row case involving multiple murders along the I-4 corridor; gives a close-up of the state’s capital system. Wikimedia Commons
  • Flesh Collectors: Cannibalism and Further Depravity on the Gulf Coast – Not about Randolph, but another Florida-focused true crime book that digs into extreme violence and the legal fallout. CityNews
  • Death Row Stories (HLN/CNN) – Docu-series examining capital cases, appeals, and claims of error or mitigation; available to stream on Prime Video in some regions.
  • Cell 1 (WLRN) – A documentary project about the last cell Florida inmates occupy before execution, focused on the human side of Florida’s death row.
  • A Question of Innocence – Documentary (Apple TV) built around Florida death row prisoner Tommy Zeigler, exploring whether the death penalty has a place in the 21st century.
  • 👉 (You can also cross-check details with the Florida Capital Cases page for DC# 115769 and the 1990 Florida Supreme Court direct-appeal opinion.) Justia+3Online Sunshine+3Online Sunshine+3
  • (These aren’t specifically about Randolph but pair well with his case for readers interested in Florida’s capital system and the broader death-penalty landscape.)

This site contains affiliate links. We may, at no cost to you, receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Thank you for your support.

JOIN US

Fireside Crime Stories

If the written word keeps you leaning forward into the shadows, then you’ll love settling back by the fire with us. On our YouTube channel, these same haunting stories are told in a softer voice – woven with stormlight, fire crackle, and quiet piano. Perfect for late-night listening, or for those who want to drift into slumber carried by true crime whispers instead of headlines. Step into the firelight, and join us there.

FIRESIDE CRIME STORIES

Related WickedWe Cases

👉 This page is part of the WickedWe True Crime Archive – a resource for researchers, students, and true crime enthusiasts seeking verified facts, case records, and deeper historical context. [Disclaimer→ WickedWe.com is an educational/entertainment column only. No graphic imagery. Victim-respect policy. Nothing herein is legal advice.]

Beyond the Gavel | Richard Randolph

Beyond the bare docket numbers, Richard Randolph sits at the intersection of three major death-penalty fault lines: non-unanimous jury sentences, judicial involvement in death sentencing, and the treatment of long-incarcerated veterans with complex trauma histories.

His case is a textbook example of Florida’s old capital system, where an 8–4 jury recommendation and a judge’s written order – one that a prosecutor helped draft behind closed doors – were enough to send a defendant to death row. The Hurst decisions reshaped Florida’s law for newer cases, but the state’s retroactivity rules left Randolph and others sentenced before Ring v. Arizona outside that safety net, perpetuating a class of death sentences built on procedures the state itself no longer uses. people.smu.edu+3Justia+3Midpage+3

Randolph’s most recent litigation, leaning on “good genes” and the success of his biological parents, highlights another divide: what kind of mitigation really matters decades after the fact? The Florida Supreme Court’s 2024 opinion treats that evidence as legally irrelevant, drawing a hard line between inherited traits and the brutal facts of the Handy-Way murder. Meanwhile, advocates note that Randolph is a military veteran with a childhood marked by abuse and instability – a profile seen over and over on death row, raising questions about how early trauma, adoption, and service-related issues are weighed when life and death are on the table. Tampa Free Press+2people.smu.edu+2

Finally, his November 20 date unfolds in a year where Florida is executing people at a pace not seen in decades, even as national use of the death penalty declines. Randolph’s case becomes more than the story of a single crime; it is a snapshot of Florida’s broader capital punishment machine in 2025 – one that is still running hard on sentences written in the language and logic of the late 1980s. aol.com+1

Roll Card – Snapshot

Status: Florida death row (DC# 115769); execution set for Thu, Nov 20, 2025 (lethal injection) at Florida State Prison, Starke.
Sources: AP News, ClickOnDetroit / AP

Clemency: Florida governor holds primary clemency power in capital cases; no reprieve or commutation granted as of today.
Sources: Capital Punishment in Florida – overview, Florida Capital Cases – Randolph

Case age: Offense in 1988; death sentence imposed 1989–1990; more than 35 years of state and federal litigation completed.
Sources: Randolph v. State (Fla. 1990), Florida Capital Cases Summary

Docket Map – Proceedings (Condensed)

1989–1990: Jury convicts Randolph of first-degree murder, armed robbery, sexual assault, and grand theft for the Handy-Way store killing of Minnie Ruth McCollum; jury recommends death 8–4; trial judge imposes death; Florida Supreme Court affirms in Randolph v. State, 562 So. 2d 331 (Fla. 1990).
Source: Randolph v. State – Direct Appeal (1990)

2003: Trial court denies initial Rule 3.851 motion; Florida Supreme Court affirms denial and rejects state habeas, addressing ex parte drafting of the sentencing order with the prosecutor.
Sources: Randolph v. State – Postconviction (FindLaw), Randolph v. State – VLex

2009: Federal district court denies habeas relief; Eleventh Circuit affirms in Randolph v. McNeil, leaving the conviction and death sentence intact.
Sources: Randolph v. McNeil – 11th Cir. Opinion, FindLaw summary – Randolph v. McNeil

2017–2021: Randolph files successive postconviction motion seeking relief under Hurst v. Florida based on his non-unanimous (8–4) death recommendation; Florida Supreme Court holds Hurst is not retroactive to cases final before Ring v. Arizona and denies relief in Randolph v. State (SC20-287, 2021).
Sources: Randolph v. State – SC20-287 (2021), Midpage summary

Dec 5, 2024: Florida Supreme Court denies third successive motion based on newly discovered mitigation about his biological parents (“good genes”), finding it would not have changed the penalty outcome.
Sources: SC2024-0273 Opinion (PDF), Tampa Free Press – “Good Genes” Appeal Denied

Oct 21, 2025: Governor Ron DeSantis signs a death warrant setting execution for Nov 20, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. ET; coverage notes Florida’s record pace of executions in 2025.
Sources: AP News – Warrant Story, ClickOnDetroit / AP, “New Warrant” Analysis – Florida Death Penalty Substack

Oct–Nov 2025: Florida Supreme Court enters expedited warrant-phase briefing schedule; warrant-related appeals pending, but no court has granted a stay as of today.
Source: Florida Supreme Court Online Docket – Randolph

Stay / Warrant / Window

Warrant: Date-certain death warrant signed Oct 21, 2025, scheduling execution for Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 6:00 p.m. ET at Florida State Prison.
Sources: AP News, ClickOnDetroit

Execution window: Florida uses a single-date system (no multi-day “window”); execution proceeds on the set date absent a judicial stay or clemency.
Sources: DPIC – Upcoming Executions, Capital Punishment in Florida

Stay status: No stay currently in effect on the 2025 warrant; Florida Supreme Court docket shows active warrant-phase filings and short briefing deadlines.
Sources: Florida Supreme Court Docket – Randolph, SMU Death Penalty News – Oct 22 Updates

Case File Extras – What the Record Shows | Richard Randolph

Offense pattern: Former employee returns to the Handy-Way store before opening on Aug 15, 1988 to rob the safe; manager Minnie Ruth McCollum confronts him; robbery turns into a violent back-room assault; camera disabled, store locked, her car taken as Randolph leaves.
Sources: Florida Capital Cases – Case Summary, Randolph v. State (1990)

Evidence: Witnesses see Randolph locking the store and driving McCollum’s car; he is arrested later that day in Jacksonville attempting to use stolen lottery tickets tied to the store; physical evidence and medical testimony corroborate the State’s narrative of a robbery-murder.
Source: Randolph v. State – Direct Appeal

Aggravation vs. mitigation: Court finds multiple aggravators (murder during robbery; especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel) outweigh mitigation tied to childhood abuse, adoption, military service, and mental-health issues; death imposed after an 8–4 jury recommendation.
Sources: Randolph v. State (1990), Randolph v. State – Postconviction (2003)

Ex parte sentencing order: Postconviction testimony reveals the prosecutor assisted the trial judge in drafting the written sentencing order outside the presence of defense counsel; Florida Supreme Court condemns the practice but rules it harmless in Randolph’s case.
Source: Randolph v. State, 853 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 2003)

Retroactivity & non-unanimous jury: Hurst v. Florida invalidates Florida’s old capital scheme prospectively, but Randolph’s 8–4 death sentence stands because his case was final before Ring v. Arizona; state high court refuses to extend Hurst retroactively.
Sources: Randolph v. State – SC20-287 (2021), Florida Death Penalty Substack – Hurst/retroactivity discussion

“Good genes” litigation: 2024 ruling holds that evidence of his biological parents’ “good genes” and relatively successful lives would not have altered the balance at sentencing and does not justify a new penalty phase.
Sources: SC2024-0273 Opinion (PDF), Tampa Free Press – “Good Genes” Appeal Denied

Veteran & trauma profile: Advocacy pieces highlight Randolph’s background of childhood abuse, adoption, and military service, raising broader questions about trauma and veterans on Florida’s death row.
Source: “New Warrant: Richard Randolph’s Execution” – Florida Death Penalty Substack

Source Pack (Core References) | Richard Randolph | Florida Death Row

Our Shop

Related Posts