Two demise row inmates are scheduled to be put to demise on the identical day in Florida — the primary double execution within the Sunshine State in over six a long time.
Governor Ron DeSantis rescheduled the execution of former police officer and convicted little one assassin James Duckett for 12 p.m. on July 28, precisely six hours earlier than Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr. can be set to be put to demise, USA At this time reported.
The 68-year-old former cop was set to be executed in March for murdering an 11-year-old woman in 1987, however he obtained a uncommon and short-term reprieve from the Florida Supreme Court docket, pending the outcomes of recent DNA testing.
Nonetheless, the DNA testing was inconclusive and Duckett’s reprieve expired on July 11. His execution was rescheduled by DeSantis on July 14.
At 80-years-old, Occhicone, who was convicted of murdering the dad and mom of his ex-fiancée in 1986, would be the oldest demise row inmate executed in Florida and the second oldest within the US.
If the uncommon double executions go forward, it will likely be the primary time since 1964 that the Sunshine State may have executed two demise row inmates on the identical day, in line with a Loss of life Penalty Data Middle execution database.
DeSantis beforehand stated he needs to present closure to the sufferer’s households who’ve generally waited over 40 years to see their family members’ killers be punished by demise.
Since January 2025, 64 inmates have been executed within the US.
Florida has carried out 29 of them beneath DeSantis — making up 45% of all executions all through the 27 states which have the demise penalty, in line with an evaluation by USA At this time.
Moreover, the Sunshine State has carried out 58% of executions within the US this 12 months alone.
Underneath his tenure, DeSantis has signed extra demise warrants than every other governor within the state’s historical past and likewise signed laws in 2023 so as to add the demise penalty as attainable punishment for convicted little one intercourse abusers.
He additionally signed a legislation in 2025 that broadly expanded Florida’s execution strategies to incorporate something “not deemed unconstitutional,” — however since no demise penalty strategies have ever been declared unconstitutional, specialists warn that the legislation technically permits any conceivable technique, from stoning to hanging.
Loss of life penalty opponents are criticising DeSantis’ aggressive push, claiming that he’s motivated by political ambition forward of the 2028 presidential election and is “more and more treating executions as routine devices of political energy,” the Floridians For Options to the Loss of life Penalty group stated in a latest assertion.
“Governor DeSantis’s secretive, self-serving pursuit of a record-setting variety of executions ignores the trauma that finishing up two executions in a single day will inflict on jail employees,” Robin Maher, govt director of the Loss of life Penalty Data Middle informed the outlet.
“His rush to kill an aged 80-year-old man and a person who could also be harmless solely proves the reckless disregard with which he’s making these selections.”
Nonetheless, after assembly with the households of victims lately, DeSentis is extra decided than ever to see previous demise penalty sentences be carried out, in line with ProPublica.
“There’s a saying: Justice delayed is justice denied,” DeSantis stated.
“We’re doing it to have the ability to carry justice to the victims’ households.”
