politics
Florida Schedules Executions of Two Death Row Inmates on Same Day for First Time Since 1964
Governor Ron DeSantis set executions for James Duckett at noon and Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr. at 6 p.m. The move follows an inconclusive DNA test and the expiration of a prior reprieve.
Jul 18, 12:50 AM·1m read1 source
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Florida will carry out executions for two death row inmates on the same day for the first time in over six decades, New York Post reported. Governor Ron DeSantis rescheduled James Duckett for noon on July 28 and set Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr. for 6 p.m.
The same day. Duckett, a 68-year-old former police officer, was convicted of murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1987. He had received a temporary reprieve in March for DNA testing that later proved inconclusive.
The reprieve expired July 11, and DeSantis rescheduled the execution July 14. Occhicone, 80, was convicted of murdering the parents of his ex-fiancée in 1986. If carried out, the execution would make him the oldest person put to death in Florida and the second-oldest in the United States.
The last double execution in the state occurred in 1964, according to the Death Penalty Information Center execution database. Since January 2025, Florida has carried out 29 of the 64 executions nationwide under DeSantis and accounted for 58 percent of U.S. executions in 2026, USA Today reported.
DeSantis has said the schedule aims to deliver justice to victims' families. "There's a saying: Justice delayed is justice denied," he said.
