Florida schedules two executions for same day, a first for the state since 1964

Florida is scheduled to execute two convicted killers on July 28, 2026, setting up what would be the state’s first same-day double execution in the modern era of capital punishment.

Governor Ron DeSantis issued a letter to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk rescheduling the execution of 68-year-old James Duckett for noon on July 28. Six hours later, at 6:00 p.m., the state is scheduled to execute 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone.

The scheduling arrangement was confirmed shortly after Florida executed 74-year-old Dennis Sochor by lethal injection. Sochor was convicted in the 1982 kidnapping and murder of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford, whom he met at a New Year’s Eve party. Sochor temporarily became the oldest person executed in Florida’s modern history upon his death.

If Occhicone’s execution proceeds as scheduled, he will surpass Sochor as the oldest person executed in modern Florida history. Nationally, Occhicone would become the second-oldest person executed in the modern era, behind Alabama inmate Walter Moody Jr., who was executed in 2018 at age 83 for the 1989 mail-bomb murders of a federal judge and a civil rights attorney.

If both executions go forward, it will mark the first time Florida has put two people to death on the same date since 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie were executed in the electric chair. Across the United States, same-day executions remain rare in the modern era, with nine double executions and two triple executions recorded since capital punishment resumed in the late 1970s.

Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1988 for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. Duckett was originally set to die on March 31, 2026, but received a stay of execution five days prior from the Florida Supreme Court to pursue DNA testing.

State testing on a biological sample yielded inconclusive results, and an independent expert retained by the defense concluded in June that the remaining data was insufficient to either include or exclude Duckett as a contributor.

Because the sample was fully consumed during testing, the court denied requests for an evidentiary hearing and officially lifted the stay on July 8, ruling that the findings provided no grounds for relief. Duckett has maintained his innocence throughout his decades on death row. His initial death sentence followed an 8–4 jury vote.

Occhicone was sentenced to death in 1987 following his conviction on two counts of first-degree murder for the 1986 shootings of Raymond and Martha Artzner—the parents of his former fiancée—at their home in Pasco County. The jury in his penalty phase rendered a non-unanimous 7–5 recommendation for death. Today, Florida law requires a vote of at least eight jurors to impose a death sentence.

Attorneys for Occhicone have filed motions requesting a stay of execution, citing his age and physical decline. Court filings indicate Occhicone suffers from chronic heart and kidney disease, severe vision impairment, insomnia, and loss of hearing, and requires assistance from prison staff to use showers and navigate stairs. Lead defense counsel Ali Shakoor argued in court documents that executing an octogenarian serves no retributive purpose.

Occhicone’s defense team also petitioned the court for a six-month moratorium on executions to allow researchers to study the psychological impact and potential moral injury on correctional staff tasked with carrying out frequent executions. The court denied both requests.

Advocacy organizations, including Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, have petitioned Governor DeSantis and the Florida Board of Executive Clemency to halt both executions. The state of Florida has not granted clemency to a death row inmate since 1983.

READ: Gun Rights Groups Seek Injunction Against Pending Maryland Handgun Restrictions

Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.

Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.

Florida Schedules Two Executions For Same Day, A First For The State Since 1964