Ex-police officer James Duckett, 68, and Dominick Occhicone, 80, scheduled for lethal injection Tuesday at Florida state prison near Starke.
11:34 AM
Florida is preparing to carry out two executions on Tuesday, marking the state's first double execution within a single day since the modern era of capital punishment began in 1976.
James Duckett, 68, a former police officer convicted of a young girl's murder, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at noon at Florida state prison near Starke, outside Jacksonville. Dominick Occhicone, 80, faces the same procedure six hours later at the same facility.
Should both executions be completed, Florida would become the first state in nearly a decade to conduct two executions on the same day. The last time a U.S. death penalty state executed more than one inmate in a single day was April 24, 2017, when Arkansas administered lethal doses to Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, three hours apart.
For Florida specifically, the double execution would be the first since 1964. The state has not executed two prisoners on the same day since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, allowing states to resume applying the death penalty.
The executions come as Florida has significantly increased its execution rate. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis began stepping up executions 18 months ago at a pace unseen in modern times in the state. Florida carried out 19 lethal injections in 2025 and 10 so far this year. With Tuesday's planned executions, Florida would reach 31 executions since January 2025.
Nationally, the United States has conducted 66 executions as of late July 2026. Florida accounts for nearly half of the total number of executions carried out across the country during this period.
Occhicone, at 80 years old, would become the second-oldest inmate put to death in modern U.S. history if the execution proceeds as scheduled.
Governor DeSantis has not publicly stated why he scheduled the two executions six hours apart, and Florida prison officials have not disclosed details about the timing or other procedural aspects of the planned killings.
Rights groups have condemned the secrecy surrounding the executions and expressed concern that the accelerated schedule raises the risk of errors that could result in what they characterize as torturous deaths.
Florida is preparing to execute three older inmates by month's end, including a 74-year-old who would be the oldest in state history.
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