TALLAHASSEE, Florida — TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The state of Florida is preparing to carry out two executions on July 28, 2026, an event that will mark the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty nationwide in 1976 that the state puts two inmates to death on a single day. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the warrant for James Aren Duckett, 68, earlier this week, setting his execution for noon at Florida State Prison near Starke. A second warrant is scheduled for Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, at 6 p.m. that same evening.
Duckett was convicted in 1987 for the rape and drowning of an 11-year-old girl while he was employed as a police officer in central Florida. His attorney, Mary Elizabeth Wells, stated that her client has always denied guilt regarding the crime. She criticized the state’s management of DNA evidence, arguing that the results remained inconclusive due to procedural issues. A previous death warrant had been stayed by the Florida Supreme Court for further testing, but that stay was lifted earlier this month.
Occhicone was convicted in 1986 for the murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. If carried out, he would become the oldest person executed in Florida’s history and the second-oldest prisoner put to death in modern U.S. history, following Walter Moody Jr., who was executed in Alabama in 2018 at age 83. Both men would be the 11th and 12th inmates executed in Florida this year.
Governor DeSantis has overseen a record number of executions for a single term, including 19 in 2025. Regarding the upcoming events, he stated, "if I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger." He emphasized that his objective is to provide closure to victims' families who have waited many years for resolution.
Florida utilizes lethal injection for its executions, which involves administering a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a substance designed to stop the heart. The dual scheduling has drawn attention from legal observers and advocates on both sides of the capital punishment debate.
