Florida Executes Man Convicted of Killing Cop in 1978

Published December 01, 2015

This undated photo provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Manuel Valle, 61, convicted of killing Coral Gables police officer Louis Pena 33 years ago. (AP/Florida Dept. of Corrections)

A Florida man convicted of killing a police officer during a traffic stop 33 years ago has been executed at the Florida State Prison.

The governor's office said Manuel Valle was pronounced dead at 7:14 p.m. Wednesday. He was the first Florida prisoner to be executed with a new mix of lethal drugs.

Valle fatally shot Coral Gables officer Louis Pena in 1978. He also shot fellow officer Gary Spell, who was saved by his bulletproof vest.

Florida's execution is the latest of a series in the South, including the Sept 21 execution of Troy Davis in Georgia for a policeman's shooting and the Texas execution that day of a white supremacist for a black man's dragging death. Alabama executed a man last week for a 1994 shooting death.

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