Florida Schedules Executions of 74-Year-Old and 80-Year-Old Inmates This Month

Florida will execute Dennis Sochor, 74, by lethal injection on July 14 for the 1982 killing of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford. Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, is scheduled for lethal injection on July 28 for the 1986 murders of his ex-girlfriend's parents.

The schedule follows the June 25 execution of Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, who became the oldest person put to death in Florida in modern history after his conviction for fatally stabbing his wife in 1992.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Spencer's appeal that his liver disease would cause excruciating pain during lethal injection. Governor Ron DeSantis holds sole discretion over execution scheduling in Florida.

He oversaw 19 executions in 2025 and nine so far in 2026. DeSantis stated last year that his goal is to deliver justice to victims' families after long delays. "Some of these crimes were committed in the '80s," he said.

Marilyn Gifford, sister of victim Patricia Gifford, said she and her family plan to attend Sochor's execution. "I'm just happy it's ever happening in our lifetime," she said. Occhicone has spent nearly four decades on death row and suffers from kidney and prostate problems that require assistance getting in and out of the shower, according to his attorneys.

Florida holds 242 inmates on death row, and approximately half have exhausted their appeals. Three inmates older than Occhicone remain on the row. At the time of Gifford's killing, Sochor was free on probation from a 1980 rape conviction.

Sochor's father will turn 99 this year.