Florida executes 2 men in one day, including ex-cop who killed girl

Florida on Tuesday became the first state in nearly a decade to carry out two executions in a single day, putting to death an 80-year-old man who was the second-oldest inmate known to receive a lethal injection in modern U.S. history.

Hours earlier, the state executed a former police officer convicted of the killing of a young girl.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has made Florida's death chamber the nation's busiest at the end of his final term, saying too many families have waited too long to see justice. The lethal injections just hours apart were the first nearly back-to-back executions since Arkansas put two men to death three hours apart in 2017.

DeSantis, who has the authority under Florida law to set execution dates, decided earlier this month to carry out both executions on the same day.

Nationwide, the use of the death penalty had been declining for two decades, but that number has ticked up behind the increased pace in Florida. Since 2025 began, Florida has carried out nearly half the state executions across the country.

Dominick Anthony Occhicone, the octogenarian, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke following a three-drug injection. His execution came nearly five hours after the ex-police officer, James Aren Duckett, 68, received a lethal dose in the same death chamber.

The curtain of the death chamber went up for a second time Tuesday at Occhicone's 6 p.m. scheduled execution time. The inmate was strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm and a spiritual adviser near his feet.

Asked if he wished to make a statement, Occhicone said he thanked all of his Christian brothers for visiting him over the years. He also apologized to his own family for what he put them through, as well as the family of the victims.

"I know it don't mean much, but I'm sorry," Occhicone said. "I never meant to do what I did."

The lethal injection began at 6:02 p.m., followed by several minutes of deep breathing. When Occhicone's breathing slowed, a team warden shook him and yelled his name, but there was no response.

Occhicone, who was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend's parents in 1986, is the oldest prisoner executed in Florida's history since modern record-keeping began a century ago. Nationwide, an older inmate, 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr., received a lethal injection in Alabama in 2018 for a wave of mail bombs in 1989 that killed a federal judge and wounded a Black civil rights attorney.

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Duckett became the 11th inmate executed by the state of Florida this year. He was convicted of raping and drowning