\n The scheduling of two executions \u2013 both via lethal injection \u2013 in one day comes as Florida has accelerated its pace of executions, even as other states<\/a> have abolished or paused the practice. Under the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida executed 19 death row inmates in 2025 \u2013 a record high, and more than double the state\u2019s previous record in modern history, according to DPIC. It has already put 10 prisoners to death this year.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis administration is the most active death penalty administration we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel at the ACLU\u2019s Capital Punishment Project, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n The recent increase concerns advocates in part because Florida leads the nation in death row exonerations, DPIC data shows:<\/a> Since 1973, 30 people on Florida\u2019s death row have been freed after serving time for a crime they didn\u2019t commit.\n <\/p>\n \n When asked about the schedule and increased pace of executions, a spokesperson for the governor pointed to comments he had previously made in which he expressed a belief the death penalty is an \u201cappropriate punishment for the worst offenders\u201d that could be a \u201cstrong deterrent.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere\u2019s victims\u2019 families that are wanting to see justice, that I\u2019m doing my part to deliver that,\u201d he said in November 2025.\n <\/p>\n \n CNN was unable to reach the families of Duckett\u2019s and Occhicone\u2019s victims for comment.\n <\/p>\n \n Carrying out multiple executions within a day is rare in the modern era, with only two states doing so in the past 26 years: Arkansas in 2017<\/a> and Texas in 2000. Florida hasn\u2019t executed more than one person in a single day since 1964, according to the state\u2019s correctional records<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Advocates say putting two men to death hours apart could put more stress on the execution process, increasing the risk of potential complications.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTo add in that kind of pressure in Florida, where already there have been more executions in that one state alone than there have been in the rest of the US this year \u2013 it\u2019s asking for more problems,\u201d said Maya Foa, the CEO of Reprieve, an international nonprofit organization that opposes the death penalty.\n <\/p>\n \n Both inmates have filed lawsuits seeking to halt their executions, including one that argues they could suffer so-called \u201cbotched\u201d executions because of the compressed timeline. Those appeals remain pending.\n <\/p>\n \n Duckett and Occhicone were both convicted by juries, and appellate courts have denied multiple attempts to overturn their death sentences \u2013 although Duckett has maintained his innocence.\n <\/p>\n \n Duckett, a former police officer in Mascotte, Florida, was the last person seen with 11-year-old Teresa McAbee, whose body was later found in a lake, according to court documents.\n <\/p>\n \n The medical examiner determined she had been sexually assaulted, strangled and drowned. Circumstantial evidence \u2013 including Duckett\u2019s and Teresa\u2019s \u201ccomingled fingerprints\u201d on his patrol car and unique tire tracks found at the murder scene that matched his vehicle\u2019s \u2013 implicated Duckett as the murderer, the Florida Supreme Court said in a ruling this month.\n <\/p>\n \n The court recently cleared the way for Duckett\u2019s execution after post-conviction DNA testing results \u2013 which his attorneys claimed could have demonstrated his innocence \u2013 came back inconclusive. His attorneys claim the state chose a laboratory that could not perform the appropriate testing.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe State\u2019s duty is to ensure that justice is done, and not rush to kill in a case with such serious doubts over guilt,\u201d his defense attorneys said in a statement. \u201cWe are committed to seeking every avenue of relief for Mr. Duckett ahead of his scheduled July 28 execution so that the State of Florida does not execute an innocent man.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Occhicone was sentenced to death after he was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend\u2019s parents in 1986. After his former girlfriend refused to talk to him, he cut the telephone lines to the family\u2019s home and fatally shot both Raymond and Martha Artzner, according to court documents.\n <\/p>\n \n Attorneys for Occhicone declined to comment when reached by CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n If Occhicone is put to death on Tuesday, the 80-year-old will be the oldest inmate executed in Florida, surpassing two 74-year-olds who were put to death just weeks ago.\n <\/p>\n \n He recently argued his execution should be called off because it would violate his Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment, due in part to his age and related health complications \u2013 an argument the state Supreme Court rejected last week.\n <\/p>\n \n But Feddon, the priest, agreed with Occhicone\u2019s argument, calling the recent executions in Florida \u201cunconscionable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Feddon, who is against the death penalty, considers it \u201ceven more cruel and unusual\u201d to execute \u201cpeople that are already vulnerable and frail physically, mentally, because of their age,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s almost as though the state, maybe, or some in the state do not want these men to escape execution by way of natural death, and that to me is deeply troubling as well,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I think that we have to just examine our own conscience as to the motivation for signing a death warrant for an 80-year-old man.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n After the US Supreme Court reinstated use of the death penalty in 1976, executions peaked in 1999, when nearly 100 people were put to death nationwide.\n <\/p>\n \n Since then, use of the death penalty in America has generally declined,<\/a> with a dwindling number of jurisdictions responsible for a growing portion of executions.\n <\/p>\n \n But the nationwide total last year nearly doubled compared to the year prior, with 11 states executing 47 inmates \u2013 19 of whom were in Florida, DPIC data shows. And more than half of the executions that have taken place this year occurred in Florida, which has already put 10 inmates to death, according to the organization.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe pace of executions and the signing of death warrants is very different to the national picture,\u201d said Foa, the CEO of Reprieve. \u201cThis is an execution spree at a grand scale.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/james-duckett-dominick-occhicone.jpg\")
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