7:04 pm ET July 28, 2026
Occhicone victims’ family release statement
Kim Luciani and Alicia Devine
The children of Occhicone murder victims Raymond and Martha Artzner released the following statement:
6:22 pm ET July 28, 2026
Florida executes Dominick Occhicone
Kim Luciani
Florida has executed Dominick Occhicone, 80, the oldest inmate put to death in modern Florida history.
Occhicone received the death penalty for the 1986 murder of his ex-girlfriend Anita Gerrety’s parents.
He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m., according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
“The sentence of the State of Florida v. Inmate Dominick A. Occhicone Jr. was carried out at 6:13 PM EST,” a FDOC media briefing reads.
His last words in the execution chamber were, “I’m sorry for the hurt I’ve caused my family.”
To the victims’ family, he said, “I know it don’t mean much, but I’m sorry. I never meant to do what I did.”
It was the second execution of the day. Former police officer James Duckett, who was convicted of raping and killing an 11-year-old girl in 1987 while on duty, was executed earlier in the day.
Until today, Florida had not conducted a double execution on the same day in more than 60 years.
5:15 pm ET July 28, 2026
What happens in the Florida execution chamber
Kim Luciani
Witnesses from the victims’ families, the state and inmate’s defense team, along with members of the news media are escorted into viewing rooms shortly before the scheduled time.
Prison officials read the death warrant and check for any last-minute court orders that would halt the execution.
The lethal injection sequence begins:
- The first drug administered is etomidate, a sedative to render the inmate unconscious.
- The second drug, rocuronium bromide, is a neuromuscular blocking agent that causes paralysis of voluntary muscles.
- The third and final drug, potassium acetate, disrupts the heart’s electrical activity, resulting in cardiac arrest and death.
A doctor examines and pronounces the inmate dead.
4:21 pm ET July 28, 2026
Occhicone’s last meal, no visitors ahead of execution today
Kim Luciani
Occhicone arose at 4:45 a.m., remained compliant and had a last meal consisting of eggplant parmesan, salad, cornbread and soda, according to FDOC spokesman Jordan Kirkland.
Kirkland said Occhicone had no visitors but met with a spiritual advisor.
Occhione’s execution, the second of the day, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Occhione’s request for a stay of execution earlier in the day.
3:30 pm ET July 28, 2026
Occhicone to become oldest person executed in Florida
C. A. Bridges
Unless the U.S. Supreme Court issues a stay in time, Dominick Occhicone, convicted of killing his ex-fiancée’s parents in 1986, is scheduled on July 28 to become the oldest person ever executed in Florida in recorded history. He will die about a month before his 81st birthday.
That record hasn’t been in place long. Two weeks before the 80-year-old Occhicone is scheduled to be executed, Dennis Sochor, 74, was put to death for the 1981 murder of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford. Two weeks before that, the state executed 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer for brutally beating and stabbing his wife, Karen Spencer, in front of her teenage son in 1992.
(The youngest person executed in Florida? A 15-year-old boy was executed in Volusia County in 1910 for the stabbing death of a 13-year-old girl, according to archived records.
3:14 pm ET July 28, 2026
Was Duckett connected to a Lakeland murder?
Andy Kuppers
For years as he sat on death row for the May 1987 rape and murder of Teresa McAbee in Lake County, James Duckett was a prime suspect in a similar murder in neighboring Polk County the same year.
In September 1987, about five months after McAbee’s murder, 14-year-old Jeanifer Shyan Weldon went missing while walking home near U.S. 98 North in Lakeland, carrying a stuffed toy in a bag from a fair she had attended earlier that day. Her body was found Oct. 2 near a mining pit south of Fort Meade.
During the McAbee investigation in Lake County, Duckett had been fired from his job with the Mascotte police department and took a job at a phosphate mining operation south of Bartow.
“The night Weldon disappeared, Duckett would have been driving to work on U.S. 98 North, where the 14-year-old girl was walking the night she disappeared,” Polk County sheriff’s detectives said in a 2005 report in The Lakeland Ledger.
Duckett was two hours late for his job at the phosphate mine that night, and co-workers reported he appeared disheveled. Duckett’s wife said her husband had returned from work with a bag and a stuffed toy. She recalled the items because the couple had two sons who argued over the items. So she threw the items in the trash, according to previous reports.
Read more here.
2:40 pm ET July 28, 2026
State attorney calls Duckett execution ‘final administration of justice’
C. A. Bridges
“Today marks the final chapter in a case that has spanned decades. While no legal proceeding can restore the life that was taken, this execution represents the final administration of justice for the young victim and her family, who have endured years of unimaginable loss while waiting for this case to reach its lawful conclusion,” said State Attorney Bill Gladson in a release.
“From the beginning of this case, the evidence established the defendant’s guilt. The physical evidence recovered, together with the facts developed during the investigation and presented in court, left no reasonable doubt as to James Duckett’s responsibility for this horrific crime,” he said. “That evidence was repeatedly examined through years of judicial review and withstood extensive scrutiny.
“We recognize that this case has been followed closely by our community for the past 39-years and that many citizens have long awaited its conclusion. Our office reaffirms our commitment to seeking justice with integrity, supporting victims and their families, and ensuring that the rule of law is faithfully upheld in every case we prosecute. Our thoughts remain with the victim’s loved ones as they continue to carry the loss of a young life taken far too soon.”
2:37 pm ET July 28, 2026
Dozens gather outside Florida State Prison to protest double execution
Alicia Devine
2:20 pm ET July 28, 2026
Anti-death penalty group calls Duckett execution unjust
C. A. Bridges
“Today, We the People of the State of Florida executed James ‘Jim’ Duckett for a crime he steadfastly maintained he did not commit. The State chose a testing process that consumed and forever destroyed the most critical piece of biological evidence in his case, then refused to test the remaining physical evidence that might have finally answered the question of his guilt or innocence,” said Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty in an emailed release. That answer is now beyond our reach.”
“This case contained nearly every hallmark of a wrongful conviction – a non-unanimous jury recommendation (8-4), unreliable forensic evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and coerced witness testimony. Since his conviction, most of the original evidence against Jim, who prosecutors claimed committed this crime while on duty, has unraveled,” the organization said.
“Their conduct and this execution reveal the sad truth that we are about as far away from justice as we could possibly be.”
1:37 pm ET July 28, 2026
Florida executes James Duckett
Kim Luciani and Alicia Devine
Florida carried out the death sentence of James Duckett. The execution was delayed awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on a last-minute stay of execution. The execution by lethal injection was scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET.
Duckett was pronounced dead at 1:19 p.m., according to a media briefing from the Florida Department of Corrections.
“The sentence of the State of Florida v. Inmate James A. Duckett was carried out at 1:19 PM EST,” the briefing reads.
Duckett declined to say any final words inside the execution chamber, according to an FDOC spokesperson.
In less than 5 hours, today’s second execution, of 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone, is scheduled to take place.
1:35 pm ET July 28, 2026
Journalist shares experience of attending Florida executions
Kim Luciani
“Covering executions in Florida as a journalist is both mundane and traumatizing, especially when you’re in the death chamber numerous times,” USA TODAY NETWORK journalist Curt Anderson writes. “I covered 10 executions one year and every time there’s another death by lethal injection, it brings up tough memories.”
12:48 pm ET July 28, 2026
Supreme Court denies both appeals
C. A. Bridges
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court denied appeals and requests for stays of execution for both James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone.
12:27 pm ET July 28, 2026
Have any death row inmates been exonerated in Florida?
C. A. Bridges
Florida leads the nation in death-row exonerations with 30 since 1973, according to DeathPenaltyInfo.org. Most recently, Robert DuBoise was exonerated in 2020, 37 years after he was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder in Tampa.
DuBoise’s case was found to include false accusations, false or misleading forensic evidence using since-discredited bite-mark analysis, and official misconduct involving a witness who was facing charges as an accessory in another case. DNA evidence cleared his name.
With increased attention on due process, errors, and official misconduct, and the use of more advanced testing procedures and methods, 202 former death-row prisoners nationwide have been exonerated of all charges related to the wrongful convictions that had put them on death row.
12:18 pm ET July 28, 2026
Death penalty opponents, supporters gather outside Florida State Prison
Alicia Devine
Across the street from the Florida State Prison, more than 50 people gathered in the direct sun to voice their opposition to the death penalty and the execution of James Duckett.
Using the shade from their large gold umbrellas, the advocates held signs that read “Executions teach vengeance + violence” and “Death row is mental torture.”
Each person in attendance got up to ring a bell in opposition to Duckett’s death warrant. As they did so, they shouted “not in my name” while swinging a hammer against the large metal bell.
Just a few yards away in the shade of a large oak tree, three supporters of the death penalty sat in lawn chairs playing music over Bluetooth speakers, including “Another One Bites the Dust.”
11:59 am ET July 28, 2026
Florida double execution 1st in 62 years
C. A. Bridges
In the past, it wasn’t unusual for multiple hangings or executions to happen on the same day in Florida. According to records from the Florida Department of Corrections, the state put to death two or more people on the same day 32 times between 1924 and 1964.
The last executions in Florida before the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily struck down death penalties across the country in 1972 were Emmett C. Blake and Sie Dawson. They were both executed for murder on May 12, 1964.
11:57 am ET July 28, 2026
Do condemned inmates in Florida get a last meal?
C. A. Bridges
Yes. A death row inmate is allowed to request a last meal on the day of their execution. The meal must be locally sourced and cost no more than $40.
11:50 am ET July 28, 2026
How often does the Supreme Court stay an execution?
C. A. Bridges
Not very. According to DeathPenaltyInfo.org, the United States Supreme Court denied every request to stay an execution in 2025, nationwide.
Stays requested by an inmate with ongoing appeals or habeas petitions may be more likely to be received favorably by the court than last-minute stays requested in the final days after other appeals have been exhausted or while the condemned person is working on a new appeal.
“Conservative justices tend to view successor petitions as just an attempt to delay execution, raising issues that could have been raised earlier and rarely worthy of substantive consideration,” the SCOTUSblog said. “Liberal justices are sometimes more sympathetic to newly raised claims.”
11:44 am ET July 28, 2026
Who is Florida’s executioner?
Kim Luciani
The executioner is an anonymous private Florida citizen.
The Florida State Prison warden selects two executioners for each execution – one as the primary, the other as the secondary executioner.
The primary executioner is responsible for administering the lethal chemicals, while the secondary executioner is present in case the primary becomes unable to carry out the necessary functions.
Florida executioners are paid $200 per execution, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
11:36 am ET July 28, 2026
Does the state have to wait for Supreme Court decisions?
C. A. Bridges
Both Duckett and Occhicone have appeals and requests for stays of execution before the U.S. Supreme Court. With half an hour remaining before Duckett’s scheduled execution, there has been no word from the Court on either man. Does Florida have to wait?
No. Filing a request for a stay of execution does not put the execution on hold.
11:29 am ET July 28, 2026
Scenes from outside Florida State Prison ahead of double execution
Alicia Devine
11:26 am ET July 28, 2026
Florida’s execution drug cocktail
Kim Luciani
Florida’s lethal injection protocol uses a three‑drug cocktail, administered intravenously, per the Florida Department of Corrections.
- The first drug is etomidate, a sedative to render the inmate unconscious.
- The second drug, rocuronium bromide, is a neuromuscular blocking agent that causes paralysis of voluntary muscles.
- The third and final drug, potassium acetate, disrupts the heart’s electrical activity, resulting in cardiac arrest and death.
11:26 am ET July 28, 2026
Duckett’s request for more testing denied
C. A. Bridges
Duckett was originally scheduled to die on March 31. The Florida Supreme Court issued a stay while Duckett waited for results of DNA testing on semen found in the girl’s underwear, testing that wasn’t available in the past.
The results were inconclusive, the stay was lifted, and Gov. Ron DeSantis reset Duckett’s execution.
In his appeal to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, Duckett’s attorneys argued that the sample was deliberately sent to a Florida lab for expediency instead of an out-of-state lab with whole genome sequencing, which they said was required to test a four-decade-old sample. The Florida Supreme Court denied the appeal for more testing.
11:19 am ET July 28, 2026
What happens before, during the execution?
C. A. Bridges
Condemned inmates are typically moved to a holding cell near the death chamber on the day of their execution, where they are allowed final visits and a last meal.
Witnesses from the victims’ families, news media, the state, and the inmate’s defense team are escorted into viewing rooms shortly before the scheduled time. After prison officials read the death warrant and check for any last-minute court orders, the lethal injection sequence begins, and a doctor pronounces death once the process is complete.
Afterward, the Department of Corrections will release the inmate’s time of death and any last words he chose to give.
11:05 am ET July 28, 2026
Defenders say Duckett’s case was on shaky ground
C. A. Bridges
Duckett was sentenced to death for McAbee’s rape and murder after an 8-4 jury recommended the death penalty. According to anti-death penalty advocates, no physical evidence conclusively proved his guilt.
“The state’s case depended heavily on a single teenage witness who later said her testimony was false and the product of pressure from investigators, who threatened to take away her soon-to-be-due newborn if she refused to cooperate,” Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in an emailed release. “It also relied on microscopic hair comparison evidence that federal authorities later found to be scientifically unsound and overstated in court.”
10:44 am ET July 28, 2026
Duckett and Occhicone to be 11th, 12th people executed in Florida in 2026
C. A. Bridges
Continuing the frenzied pace of executions started in 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued 14 death warrants so far this year, including the two for Duckett. Ten men have already been executed, with another scheduled for August.
Florida set a state record with 19 executions in a single year in 2025, nearly four times as many people as any other U.S. state executed that year.
William Silvia, convicted of the 2006 shooting murder of his wife, Patricia, is scheduled to die on Aug. 18.
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