Florida carried out a rare double execution day on July 29, 2026, putting to death former policeman James Aren Duckett and double murderer Dominick Occhicone within hours of each other at Florida State Prison.
Former cop executed for 1987 murder
James Duckett, 68, was executed at noon local time for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee in 1987 while he served as a police officer in central Florida. When asked for a final statement, he declined and responded with “no sir.” Four minutes later, a prison warden shook him and shouted his name, but Duckett was unresponsive. He was the 11th inmate executed in Florida in 2026.
Double murderer followed hours later
Hours later, Florida executed Dominick Occhicone, 80, for the 1986 double murder of Raymond and Martha Artzner, the parents of his ex-girlfriend Anita Gerrety. On June 10, 1986, Occhicone knocked on the door of his ex’s parents' home in Pasco County to rekindle the relationship. Anita Gerrety had ended it due to his temper and abuse toward her children. When she threatened to call the sheriff, he left, but returned about an hour later.
Prosecutors said the phone cabling had been torn out at the junction box. Occhicone shot Raymond Artzner in the face, then broke through a locked door and chased Anita through the house. She escaped outside with her daughter, but her mother Martha was found dead with five gunshot wounds, four to her chest. Raymond died later in hospital. Occhicone did not deny the evidence but argued the shootings were not premeditated. He was convicted and had been on death row since.
Occhicone became the oldest person executed in modern Florida history and the second-oldest in the U.S., behind Walter Moody, executed at age 83 in 2018.
First double execution day since 1964
Florida’s double execution day was the first since 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie were electrocuted. The last double execution day in the U.S. was in 2017 in Arkansas.
Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has made the state’s death chamber the busiest in the U.S. as his final term ends. DeSantis has said too many families have waited too long to see justice, leading to an increase in lethal injections. Nationwide, the death penalty had declined for over 20 years but has ticked upward due to Florida’s pace. Since 2025, Florida has carried out nearly half of all state executions in the U.S.
