Florida puts ex-officer to death and gears up to execute Pasco County killer on same day

STARKE, Fla. - A former police officer convicted of the on-duty rape and murder of a young girl was put to death Tuesday, the first of two lethal injections planned for a single day in Florida, hours before an 80-year-old man was to become the second-oldest inmate executed in modern U.S. history.

Tuesday marked the first time since two convicted murderers were executed on a single day — in Arkansas in 2017 — that a state has planned virtually back-to-back executions. It also comes 18 months after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis began stepping up executions at a pace unseen in Florida since the U.S. death penalty was reinstated in 1976, making his the busiest death chamber in the nation.

James Aren Duckett, 68, was pronounced dead at 1:19 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. The 11th inmate executed by the state this year, Duckett was convicted of raping and drowning an 11-year-old girl while working as a police officer in a small central Florida city in 1987.

Florida Double Execution Plans

What we know:

Later Tuesday, barring any last-minute development, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone was scheduled to become the oldest prisoner executed in Florida’s modern history starting at 6 p.m. Occhicone was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986.

High Court Appeals Pending

What we don't know:

Officials have not publicly explained why two lethal injections were scheduled six hours apart or if the tight timeline creates staffing challenges. It remains uncertain whether the U.S. Supreme Court will intervene on the pending final appeals for either man. 

Oldest inmate executed

Timeline:

When Occhicone’s death warrant was signed late last month, his was the only execution scheduled for Tuesday. But after the Florida Supreme Court removed Duckett’s stay on July 8, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new death warrant soon after and added Duckett to Occhicone’s execution date, which hadn’t been done in Florida in more than 60 years. 

Florida Department of Corrections records show multiple executions on a single day were more common in the past, with the last being on May 12, 1964. 

Nationwide, it’s not uncommon for two different states to hold executions on the same date, but it’s less common for a single state to perform two. Before Florida, the most recent U.S. state to execute two inmates on the same day was Arkansas in April 2017. Texas executed two convicted killers on the same day in 2000, the year it put to death 40 prisoners. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has urged DeSantis to halt both executions.

Occhicone would become Florida’s oldest inmate to be executed, just weeks after two 74-year-old men briefly held that spot, the second man just a week older than the first at his time of death. Recent executions have highlighted the nation’s aging death-row population and renewed questions about the humanity of administering capital punishment to inmates who might die soon from natural causes.

Occhicone also would become the second-oldest prisoner known to be executed in modern U.S. history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr. in Alabama in 2018. Moody was condemned for a wave of mail bombs in 1989 that killed a federal judge and wounded a Black civil rights attorney. 

Record numbers for governor’s final two years

By the numbers:

Duckett and Occhicone would become Florida’s 11th and 12th inmates to be executed this year if their sentences are carried out. 

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, oversaw a record 19 executions in 2025, more in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976. The previous high was eight executions set in 2014.

If Tuesday’s executions proceed, that would bring the total for DeSantis’ final two years in office up to 31 overall, compared to just nine executions during the first six years of his administration. With another execution already set for August 2026, it could also be a record-breaking year. 

DeSantis initially signed a death warrant for Duckett in February, setting a March 31 execution date. But the Florida Supreme Court issued a stay just days ahead of that date to allow for DNA testing of old evidence that couldn’t be performed at the time of the original trial because of technological limitations. The results came back inconclusive, meaning they did not exonerate Duckett or definitively connect him to the crime. Judges have allowed the jury verdict to stand.

What they're saying:

"July 28 represents an unprecedented escalation of Florida’s use of the death penalty," the group’s executive director, Grace Hanna, said in a statement. "These are two profoundly different cases, but they point to the same troubling reality: Florida continues to expand the use of capital punishment, despite mounting evidence that it is not what Floridians want." The governor’s office has rarely commented on executions over the past 18 months. DeSantis has previously said his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.

"Some of these crimes were committed in the ’80s," the governor said at a November 2025 news conference. "Justice delayed is justice denied. I felt I owed it to them to make sure this ran very smoothly. If I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger."

The state attorney's office released the following statement following Duckett's execution: 

"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," stated State Attorney Bill Gladson.

In May of 1987, James Aren Duckett, a Mascotte police officer, raped and murdered 11-year-old Teresa Mae McAbee. On the night of the crime, Duckett, a 29-year-old rookie officer at the time, was the only patrol officer on duty when the child victim disappeared. Teresa had walked to a nearby convenience store to purchase a pencil. Her body was found in a lake less than a mile from the convenience store. According to three independent witnesses, she was last seen alive getting into Duckett's patrol car.

The medical examiner's report determined Teresa had been sexually battered, strangled, and drowned. Distinctive tire tracks near the scene where her body had been located matched the tires on Duckett's patrol car. Forensic examiners located Teresa's fingerprints on the hood of Duckett's patrol car indicating that she had been sitting backwards on the hood and had scooted up the car.

On May 10, 1988, Duckett was found guilty after his jury trial and sentenced to death. Despite the overwhelming evidence linking Duckett to the crime, and a jury finding him guilty, his defense team filed multiple motions and appeals to vacate his sentence. Throughout the appellate process, our office and the prosecutors in the office of the Attorney General, remained committed to ensuring that every filing and every legal claim was thoroughly reviewed and appropriately addressed. The appellate system exists to safeguard the integrity of our justice system, and our prosecutors worked diligently to respond to each claim presented while advocating on behalf of the victim, her family, and the people of Florida.

"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. 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."