Florida plans to put two men to death in one day, and one of them is 80 years old.
Quick Take
- Florida scheduled two executions for July 28, including James Aren Duckett at noon and Dominick Anthony Occhicone later that day.
- Occhicone, 80, would become the second-oldest prisoner executed in modern United States history if the sentence goes forward.
- The state would also become the first to carry out two executions in a single day in nearly a decade.
- The executions reflect Florida’s fast pace in 2026, with the state already leading the nation in executions this year.
Florida’s Rare Double Execution
Florida scheduled James Aren Duckett to die by lethal injection at noon at Florida State Prison near Starke, followed later by Dominick Anthony Occhicone, who is 80. If both sentences are carried out, the state will have executed two prisoners in one day for the first time in almost 10 years.
The pairing is unusual because Florida rarely compresses executions into the same day. The second case draws the most attention because Occhicone would become the oldest prisoner executed in Florida’s modern history and the second-oldest in modern United States history, behind Walter Moody Jr., who was executed in Alabama in 2018 at age 83.
The Two Men at the Center of the Case
Duckett, 68, was convicted in the 1987 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. Occhicone was sentenced for the 1986 killings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, and his lawyers had sought a stay from the Florida Supreme Court after a lower court rejected delay requests.
The age of the prisoners has made this round of executions stand out even in a state that has used the death chamber more often than any other state this year. ABC News reported that both men would become Florida’s 11th and 12th inmates executed in 2026 if the state carries out the warrants.
Why Florida Keeps Moving So Fast
Florida’s execution schedule reflects a broader pattern under Governor Ron DeSantis, who has signed repeated death warrants that push cases quickly from court review to execution date. National and state reporting has described Florida as the nation’s leading execution state in 2026, with several more warrants set after this pair.
That pace has changed the public debate. Supporters see a state carrying out lawful sentences after long appeals, while critics focus on how fast the calendar moves once a warrant is signed. The legal fight in these cases usually centers on stays, timing, and whether courts should pause an execution long enough to review last-minute claims.
EXECUTION DAY: Florida is set to become the first state in nearly a decade to carry out two executions in a single day, planning lethal injections Tuesday for an ex-police officer convicted of a young girl’s murder and an octogenarian who would be the second-oldest inmate put to…
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) July 28, 2026
For Florida officials, the story is simple: the law allows the executions, the warrants are in place, and the date is set. For readers, the sharper detail is harder to miss: a state with a busy death chamber is now preparing to send an octogenarian to his death, alongside another prisoner whose case has waited nearly four decades for its final chapter.
Sources:
abcnews.com, floridatoday.com, en.wikipedia.org, tallahassee.com, wusf.org, cnn.com, pbs.org
