Florida Schedules Executions of Two Death-Row Inmates Aged 74 and 80

Florida will execute two death row inmates over age 74 this month. Dennis Sochor, 74, is scheduled for lethal injection on July 14 for the 1982 killing of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford. Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, faces execution 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.

Occhicone has spent nearly four decades on death row. , who was 83 when executed in Alabama in 2018. Three inmates older than Occhicone remain on Florida's death row. Florida holds 242 inmates on death row, and approximately half have exhausted their appeals.

Governor Ron DeSantis has sole discretion over execution scheduling in the state. He oversaw a record 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, whose sister's killer is set for execution on July 14, said she and her family plan to attend. "I'm just happy it's ever happening in our lifetime," she said.

Rev. Dustin Feddon, a Catholic priest who has ministered to Florida death row inmates since 2013, said executing the frail and elderly is more cruel and unusual. Occhicone suffers from kidney and prostate problems and requires assistance getting in and out of the shower, according to his attorneys.