On Tuesday, Florida carried out two executions, marking the first time in nearly a decade that a U.S. state executed two inmates on the same day. An 80-year-old man, the second-oldest to receive lethal injection in modern U.S. history, was put to death. Earlier, a former police officer was executed for the murder of a young girl.
Governor Ron DeSantis has made Florida’s death chamber the most active in the nation during the end of his term. He stated that many families have awaited justice too long. These executions, occurring hours apart, are the first consecutive executions since Arkansas executed two men three hours apart in 2017. DeSantis exercised his authority to schedule these executions on the same day.
Nationwide, the death penalty’s use declined over two decades until Florida’s recent increase. Since 2025, Florida has accounted for nearly half of state executions in the United States. Dominick Anthony Occhicone, aged 80, was declared dead at 6:13 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. This was about five hours after James Aren Duckett, aged 68, received his lethal dose in the same chamber.
For Occhicone’s execution, the death chamber curtain rose at 6 p.m. He was secured to a gurney, an IV in his arm, and a spiritual adviser nearby. Asked for a final statement, he expressed gratitude to his Christian visitors, apologized to his family and the victims’ families, saying, “I know it don’t mean much, but I’m sorry. I never meant to do what I did.” At 6:02 p.m., the lethal injection began. Occhicone’s breathing initially deepened and then slowed. When there was no response after being shaken, he was pronounced dead.
Occhicone was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986. He is the oldest executed in Florida since modern records began. The oldest executed in the U.S. was Walter Moody Jr., aged 83, in Alabama, 2018, for 1989 mail bombings.
Earlier, James Aren Duckett became the 11th inmate executed in Florida this year. Convicted for the rape and drowning of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee while he served as a police officer in 1987, Duckett refused a final statement.
Following Duckett’s execution, the victim’s family expressed relief. “I waited nearly 40 years to have him dead,” stated Dorthy Tula, the victim’s mother. Tracy Mcfall-Buskirk, the girl’s cousin, commented on the abuse of his position.
This year, 19 executions have occurred nationwide. Florida accounted for 12 of these, surpassing all other states combined. In DeSantis’s final two years, the state recorded significant execution numbers, including a record 19 last year, most by any Florida governor since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976. Another execution is scheduled for August.
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty urged halting these executions. “Florida continues to expand the use of capital punishment, despite mounting evidence that it is not what Floridians want,” expressed the group’s director, Grace Hanna.
Many inmates on Florida’s death row have been there for decades. DeSantis, not commenting on the pace of executions, noted some crimes date back to the 1980s. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” he remarked last year. Florida’s last multiple same-day executions were in 1964, records show.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined final appeals on Tuesday. Florida executes via injection of a sedative, a paralytic, and a heart-stopping drug, according to the Department of Corrections.