Florida executed two inmates on Tuesday, marking the state's first double execution in more than 60 years. Former police officer James Aren Duckett, 68, was put to death for the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. Hours later, 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone was executed for the 1986 double killing of Raymond and Martha Artzner.
Duckett's execution
Duckett served as a police officer in central Florida when he attacked Teresa McAbee. He was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison. When asked for a final statement, he replied, "no sir." Four minutes later, the prison warden shook him and shouted his name. He was unresponsive and pronounced dead.
Occhicone's crime and execution
Occhicone arrived at the Artzner home in Pasco County around 3 a.m. on June 10, 1986, seeking to rekindle a romance with his former partner Anita Gerrety. She threatened to contact the sheriff. He returned an hour later with deadly intentions. Raymond Artzner attempted to call the sheriff, but the phone line had been severed. Occhicone shot Raymond in the face, then forced his way inside and pursued Anita through the house. She fled with her daughter, then heard a gunshot; Martha Artzner was found dead. Raymond identified his killer before dying in hospital.
Occhicone contested the evidence, but the jury convicted him. After the Florida Supreme Court rejected his appeal, his execution proceeded, making him the oldest person executed in Florida's modern history and the second-oldest in the United States, after 83-year-old Walter Moody in 2018.
Double execution history
The last double execution in Florida occurred in 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie were executed in the electric chair. The last time any state carried out two executions in one day was Arkansas in 2017.
Florida's death penalty surge
Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has turned the state's death chamber into the busiest in the US as his final term ends. He argues that too many families have waited too long for justice. Capital punishment had been declining nationwide for over two decades, but that trend has reversed, driven by Florida's accelerated pace. Since 2025, Florida has accounted for nearly half of all state executions across the country.
