Florida executed a man convicted of raping and murdering a child and another man convicted of a double murder on Tuesday, marking the first time a state has carried out two executions on the same day since 2017.
The Sunshine State has ramped up death sentences under Gov. Ron DeSantis, setting a record pace in the United States with 19 executions in 2025 and 12 so far in 2026 with the two men, James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone, put to death by lethal injection hours apart from each other.
DeSantis has signed 40 death warrants over his tenure as a two-term governor.
So far in 2026, Florida is far outpacing other states that have carried out executions. The next two closest states are Texas with four and Oklahoma with two. Arizona executed one man earlier this year.
Following Florida’s 19 executions in 2025 were Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina with five each.
In Florida, eight out of 12 jurors are needed to impose a death sentence.
Duckett, a former police officer in Lake County, Florida, was sentenced to death in 1988 for the rape and murder—while on duty—of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. DeSantis signed his death warrant on Feb. 27.
James Duckett, 68, was a former police officer who was sentenced to death in 1988 for the rape and murder—while on duty—of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. He was executed on July 28, 2026, at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida. (Florida Department of Corrections)
Florida State Attorney Bill Gladson for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which includes Lake County, issued a statement following Duckett’s execution that included a statement from the 11-year-old victim’s mother.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has worked on this case for everything they have done,” Teresa’s mother said. “My family and I are glad this day is finally here—because it’s about justice for my daughter and remembering her, not the man who stole her future.”
Dominick Occhicone, 80, became the oldest man to be executed by the state of Florida. He was found guilty of a 1986 double murder and put to death on July 28, 2026, at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida. (Florida Department of Corrections)
He was scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m.
Both Occhicone and Duckett had filed emergency applications and certiorari petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay their executions, but they were denied on Tuesday.
Advocacy group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty held prayer vigils outside Florida State Prison where the two men were executed. It frequently leads petitions and letter-writing campaigns urging DeSantis to stay executions in the state.
“This execution serves no public safety purpose. It is a choice,” said Grace Hanna, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
“July 28 represents an unprecedented escalation of Florida’s use of the death penalty,” Hanna said. “These are two profoundly different cases, but they point to the same troubling reality: Florida continues to expand the use of capital punishment, despite mounting evidence that it is not what Floridians want.”
The latest Gallup poll on the subject, a national survey not conducted by individual states, found 52 percent of Americans are in favor of the death penalty for an individual convicted of murder.
That’s down from 53 percent in Gallup’s 2024 poll.
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