TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida carried out its 17th execution of 2025 on Wednesday night, putting to death U.S. Army veteran Richard Barry Randolph, also known as Malik Abdul-Sajjad, for the 1988 murder of Minnie Ruth McCollum, according to a statement by Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP).
In its statement, FADP said the execution “shows, with painful clarity, that the State of Florida does not believe in redemption or hope, and that it only believes that more violence is the solution.” The organization condemned the state’s continued use of the death penalty, particularly against veterans and individuals with histories of severe childhood trauma.
According to the FADP statement, Randolph’s life was marked by tragedy and misinformation. “For nearly 60 years, Malik believed that his biological parents had abandoned him,” the statement read.
In 2022, adoption records unsealed by the State of New York revealed that Randolph’s birth mother was a 17-year-old girl forced by her parents to give him up at a home for unwed mothers. She later became an international banker and spent five decades searching for the son she was told she would never see again.
FADP explained that when Randolph’s birth mother finally reunited with him in 2022, she learned he had suffered years of abuse from his adoptive parents. “His adoptive father beat him with belts, broomsticks, and closed fists,” the statement detailed. “His adoptive mother battled alcoholism and severe mental illness … and told him he was worthless. No one celebrated his birthdays. No one told him he was loved.”
The FADP statement described Randolph’s later decision to enlist in the U.S. Army as an attempt to find structure and belonging. “He served our nation honorably,” FADP wrote, “but the military could not and did not address his unhealed childhood trauma.” Struggling with substance abuse that stemmed from his early life, Randolph later committed the murder that led to his death sentence.
FADP criticized Randolph’s trial as deeply flawed, citing racial bias and inadequate defense. The statement emphasized that Randolph, a Black man, was tried for killing a white woman in rural Palatka, Florida, where a “20-foot Confederate monument stood on the courthouse lawn.” FADP also said his defense attorney “barely investigated the case,” failed to present evidence of Randolph’s childhood abuse, and was himself “designated a special sheriff’s deputy.”
Despite the incomplete defense, the FADP statement noted that four jurors voted for a life sentence, observing that “in any other state in the nation, Malik would not even be eligible for a death sentence.” The organization described the proceeding as emblematic of systemic racial disparities in Florida’s death penalty system.
While on death row, Randolph reportedly maintained a spotless disciplinary record and found spiritual peace through his faith. FADP stated that Randolph “converted to Islam, spent more than three decades studying his faith, mentoring younger men on death row, and mediating conflicts.” The group noted that he developed and maintained close relationships with both his adoptive and biological families, including his mother, who turned 80 the same week his death warrant was signed.
“When he called her to share the news,” the statement continued, “he lamented that instead of celebrating her birthday, she would be burying the curly-headed infant she had been forced to give away all those years ago.”
Randolph’s death marked Florida’s 17th execution of 2025 and the seventh veteran executed this year, according to FADP. The organization expressed grief for the family of victim Minnie Ruth McCollum but argued that executions fail to promote justice or healing. “We in no way diminish the profound suffering Ms. McCollum’s family has endured — their loss is heartbreaking, irrevocable, and deserving of our deepest grief,” the statement read. “But, in its prideful quest to be the deadliest state in the nation, Florida has created more victims. It has slammed the door on healing, hope, and redemption.”
FADP concluded that the state’s ongoing use of the death penalty “has mastered the cold mechanics of killing and shown no interest in anything beyond that function.” The organization described Florida’s death penalty practices as “a system that perpetuates cycles of trauma, rather than justice.”
FADP’s closing words summarized the organization’s position on the execution: “We have lost our way.”
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