Florida: James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone Executed—Just Six Hours Apart

For the first time since the 1960s, Florida has carried out a double execution and carried out two death sentences on the same day. Both cases are problematic—Duckett’s guilt could not be conclusively proven, and by today’s standards, Occhicone did not receive the required number of votes from the jury for a death sentence.

James Duckett

With a delay of about an hour due to pending last-minute appeals before the United States Supreme Court, 68-year-old James Aren Duckett was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday afternoon in the state of Florida. The former police officer had been sentenced to death for allegedly kidnapping, sexually abusing, and killing an 11-year-old girl on May 11, 1987.

Duckett had maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. An execution date had already been set for him on March 31 of this year, but it was postponed a few days earlier to allow for a DNA test.

After the test proved inconclusive—neither incriminating nor exonerating him—Governor Ron DeSantis set a new date—as one of two executions scheduled six hours apart on Tuesday. This is the first double execution in Florida since 1964. James Duckett chose not to speak any last words before his execution.

In its statement, the organization “Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty” (FADP) criticized the DNA testing process: “The state opted for a testing procedure in which the most important piece of biological evidence in his case was consumed and destroyed forever, and subsequently refused to examine the remaining physical evidence that might finally have shed light on his guilt or innocence.

That answer is now beyond our reach. Florida must live forever with the possibility that Jim Duckett was not merely the 136th person executed in the state’s recent history, but a man who should have been among the record-breaking number of people exonerated from Florida’s death row for crimes they did not commit.”

Furthermore, the FADP states: “The only eyewitness who claimed to have seen the victim get into Jim’s patrol car was a pregnant teenager who had been coerced, bribed, and threatened by the police to stick to that statement. Conversely, there were two other witnesses who swore they saw him drive away without the 11-year-old in the car, yet his own attorney did not present either of these witnesses to the jury.”

Dominick Occhicone

On Tuesday evening, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone was executed by lethal injection in the U.S. state of Florida. He had been sentenced to death for killing the parents of his ex-girlfriend in 1986—40 years ago.

When asked if he wanted to make a final statement, Occhicone said he thanked all his Christian brothers for visiting him over the years. He also apologized to his own family for what he had put them through, as well as to the victims’ families. “I know that doesn’t mean much, but I’m sorry,” he said. “I never intended to do what I did.”

Occhicone’s case is remarkable in several respects. He is the oldest death row inmate to have been executed in Florida since executions resumed in the 1970s. His death sentence was handed down by a jury vote of just 7 to 5—a rule that does not apply, or no longer applies, anywhere else in the United States. Even in Florida today, at least 8 votes are required for a death sentence.

The organization “Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty” (FADP) states in its release that alcoholism played a significant role in Occhicone’s case. “Alcoholism does not excuse violence. It does not absolve one of responsibility. But we also cannot pretend it is irrelevant. It is a devastating disease whose effects extend far beyond the individual affected, distorting judgment, burdening families, and leaving collateral damage that spans generations.”

And further: “In the years following his conviction, during which he lived in enforced abstinence and had to come to terms with the suffering he had caused, Dominick Occhicone became an old man. … He was no longer the man who went to prison in the 1980s. He was an 80-year-old grandfather, physically frail, who could barely walk and drew strength from the daily routines and relationships that define a human life—even behind prison walls.”

Finally, FADP notes: “Any account of his life would be incomplete without mentioning the profound strength and comfort he found in his Catholic faith—and in the volunteer chaplains who regularly visited him on death row. He prayed the Rosary every single day of his imprisonment and spoke not of how much he feared death, but of how much he rejoiced in knowing what was to come next.”

Sources:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/07/28/double-execution-florida-james-duckett-dominick-occhicone/91072108007/
https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-james-duckett/
https://www.tampafp.com/florida-executes-80-year-old-dominick-occhicone-completing-historic-same-day-double-execution/
https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-dominick-occhicone/