STARKE, Fla. — Florida executed two men on a single day for the first time since 2017, marking an unprecedented pace in capital punishment under Governor Ron DeSantis’s final term. The executions took place at the Florida State Prison near Starke, where James Aren Duckett was put to death earlier in the afternoon and Dominick Anthony Occhicone followed hours later. This sequence represents the first nearly back-to-back executions by a U.S. state since Arkansas carried out two deaths three hours apart in 2017.
Record Pace Under DeSantis
Governor Ron DeSantis, who has authority under Florida law to set execution dates, decided earlier this month to schedule both men for the same day. He stated that too many families have waited too long to see justice served. "Justice delayed is justice denied," DeSantis said last year regarding his approach to capital punishment. Since 2025 began, Florida has carried out nearly half of all state executions across the country. The state conducted 19 executions in total so far this year, with Florida accounting for 12 of those deaths—more than all other states combined.
Executions at Florida State Prison
Duckett, a former police officer convicted of raping and drowning 11-year-old Teresa McAbee in 1987, became the 11th inmate executed by the state this year. He was pronounced dead at 1:19 p.m. after declining to make a final statement. Earlier that day, Occhicone, an 80-year-old man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986, received a lethal injection beginning at 6:02 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. Occhicone is the oldest prisoner executed in Florida since modern record-keeping began and the second-oldest inmate known to receive a lethal injection in modern U.S. history.
Reactions and Legal Context
The victim’s family members expressed relief after decades of waiting. Dorothy Tula, the mother of the young girl, stated she waited nearly 40 years for justice. Conversely, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty urged DeSantis to halt the executions, calling them an "unprecedented escalation." The group noted that Florida continues to expand capital punishment despite evidence suggesting it is not what most Floridians want. Both men had their appeals denied by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court earlier in July.
