{"id":344309,"date":"2026-07-18T07:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/344309\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T07:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:09:16","slug":"florida-schedules-two-death-row-executions-on-same-day-for-first-time-in-60-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/344309\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida schedules two death row executions on same day for first time in 60 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two death row inmates are scheduled to be put to death on the same day in Florida \u2014 the first double execution in the Sunshine State in over six decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Governor Ron DeSantis rescheduled the execution of former police officer and convicted child murderer James Duckett for 12 p.m. on July 28, exactly six hours before Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr. is also set to be put to death, USA Today<\/a> reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 68-year-old former cop was set to be executed in March for murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1987, but he received a rare and temporary reprieve from the Florida Supreme Court, pending the results of new DNA testing.<\/p>\n

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has scheduled two executions for the same day for July 28. which will be the first time the state has had a double execution in over six decades. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

However, the DNA testing was inconclusive and Duckett\u2019s reprieve expired on July 11. His execution was rescheduled by DeSantis on July 14.<\/p>\n

At 80-years-old, Occhicone, who was convicted of murdering the parents of his ex-fianc\u00e9e in 1986, will be the oldest death row inmate executed in Florida and the second oldest in the US.<\/p>\n

If the rare double executions go ahead, it will be the first time since 1964 that the Sunshine State will have executed two death row inmates on the same day, according to a Death Penalty Information Center execution database<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former cop James Duckett was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1987. Florida Department of Corrections<\/p>\n

DeSantis previously said he wants to give closure to the victim\u2019s families who have sometimes waited over 40 years to see their loved ones\u2019 killers be punished by death.<\/p>\n

Since January 2025, 64 inmates have been executed in the US. <\/p>\n

Florida has carried out 29 of them under DeSantis \u2014 making up 45% of all executions throughout the 27 states that have the death penalty, according to an analysis by USA Today.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Sunshine State has carried out 58% of executions in the US this year alone.<\/p>\n

Under his tenure, DeSantis has signed more death warrants than any other governor in the state\u2019s history and also signed legislation in 2023 to add the death penalty as possible punishment for convicted child sex abusers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr. will be the oldest person in Florida history to be executed. Florida Department of Corrections<\/p>\n

He also signed a law in 2025 that broadly expanded Florida\u2019s execution methods to include anything \u201cnot deemed unconstitutional,\u201d \u2014 but since no death penalty methods have ever been declared unconstitutional, experts warn that the law technically allows any imaginable method, from stoning to hanging.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Death penalty opponents are criticising DeSantis\u2019 aggressive push, claiming that he is motivated by political ambition ahead of the 2028 presidential election and is \u201cincreasingly treating executions as routine instruments of political power,\u201d the Floridians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty group said in a recent statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a saying: Justice delayed is justice denied,\u201d DeSantis said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re doing it to be able to bring justice to the victims\u2019 families.\u201d ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor DeSantis\u2019s secretive, self-serving pursuit of a record-setting number of executions ignores the trauma that carrying out two executions in a single day will inflict on prison staff,\u201d Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center told the outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis rush to kill an elderly 80-year-old man and a man who may be innocent only proves the reckless disregard with which he is making these decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, after meeting with the families of victims recently, DeSentis is more determined than ever to see old death penalty sentences be carried out, according to ProPublica.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a saying: Justice delayed is justice denied,\u201d DeSantis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing it to be able to bring justice to the victims\u2019 families.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two death row inmates are scheduled to be put to death on the same day in Florida \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[53981,5507,408,4536,4537,28,30,29,4538,412,4278],"class_list":["post-344309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-convictions","tag-death","tag-death-penalty","tag-death-row","tag-executions","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-murders","tag-ron-desantis","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}