The Eyrie

STARKE, FL — A man convicted in the 1992 killing of a North Miami Beach police officer is now set for execution Dec. 1 after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Friday. Ricardo Gonzalez, 56, would be the state’s 21st execution of the year if the lethal injection is carried out as scheduled.

The case stems from a deadly armed bank robbery more than three decades ago, when Officer Steven Bauer was shot while escorting bank tellers near drive-thru windows at Kislak National Bank. State records show Gonzalez was later convicted of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, along with several related crimes tied to the robbery.

How the 1992 robbery turned into a fatal ambush

The crime happened on Jan. 3, 1992, during an armed robbery at Kislak National Bank. Bauer was helping move bank tellers toward the drive-thru windows when Gonzalez and three codefendants confronted the group and took a cash box from a drive-thru teller.

According to court records, the robbery quickly escalated into violence. Bauer was shot during the encounter, and investigators later determined the bullet that killed him entered his chest.

The shooting and robbery became one of the most serious cases in the state’s capital punishment system because the victim was a police officer killed in the line of duty. Gonzalez was later found guilty of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, armed robbery, aggravated assault, two counts of burglary and two counts of grand theft.

Detectives say Gonzalez confessed after the arrest

Investigators arrested Gonzalez at his home a little more than two weeks after the robbery. Court documents say he gave both unrecorded and recorded statements to detectives.

In those interviews, Gonzalez said he intended to shoot low and believed he had hit Bauer in the leg. Detectives and later findings concluded otherwise, saying the fatal round struck the officer in the chest.

Court records also say Gonzalez grabbed the fallen money tray after Bauer was shot. A sentencing order signed by Circuit Court Judge Robert Scola, Jr. on Sept. 19, 1998, says Gonzalez later received $1,500 as his share of the robbery proceeds.

The sentencing phase included claims of mental and emotional strain

During the penalty phase, a neuropsychologist testified that Gonzalez had been affected by a mix of personal and developmental problems. The testimony pointed to marital difficulties, a childhood spent moving among relatives, language barriers, impulsive behavior and brain trauma from boxing.

Those arguments were presented as factors that may have influenced his actions. Even so, the court ultimately imposed the sentence that now places him among Florida’s condemned inmates facing execution.

Florida’s high court and the state’s capital punishment process have left Gonzalez on death row for years, but the latest warrant brings his case back into focus as the execution date approaches.

Florida’s execution pace is nearing a modern high

Florida has already carried out 19 executions this year, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. If the state goes forward with the lethal injections scheduled for Thursday and Nov. 19 before Gonzalez’s date, that total would rise to 21.

That would push Florida past its previous single-year high in the modern era. The current record was set last year, when the state carried out 19 executions after the U.S. Supreme Court restored capital punishment in 1976.

Nationally, 32 prisoners have been executed so far this year across six states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Texas follows Florida with seven executions, while Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arizona have also carried out death sentences.

Questions remain about appeals and the other codefendants

State officials have not said whether Gonzalez will pursue final legal challenges to stop the Dec. 1 execution. That leaves the case in motion as the scheduled date nears, with the lethal injection set to take place at Florida State Prison.

Authorities also have not announced execution dates for Gonzalez’s codefendants, Leonardo Franqui and Pablo San Martin. Both remain among the 235 inmates housed on Florida’s death row as of Monday.

The separate schedules underscore how quickly the state’s death penalty process is moving this year. With multiple executions already completed and more dates on the calendar, Florida is on track to finish the year with an unusually high total.