James Duckett, now deceased (Image: Florida Department of Correction)
Florida has carried out a rare double-death day of executions, with a former policeman and a double-murderer being put to death within hours of each other.
Former cop James Aren Duckett was put to death at noon local time, nearly 40 years after he raped and murdered 11-year-old Teresa McAbee while he was working as an officer in central Florida in 1987.
The 68-year-old was confirmed dead following a two of injections in a lethal cocktail at Florida State Prison. When asked, he declined to make a final statement and instead chose to respond with “no sir” when asked. Four minutes later, he was shaken by a prison warden who also shouted Duckett’s name, but the rapist and murderer was unresponsive.
His death makes Duckett the 11th inmate to be executed by the state in 2026.
Florida State Prison (Image: ZUMA Press)
Hours later, Florida then went on to execute 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone at the same jail, bringing the day’s double-bill to an end.
Occhicone was put to death for the double murder of Raymond and Martha Artzner, the parents of his ex-girlfriend, Anita Gerrety, four decades ago.
At around 3am on June 10, 1986, Occhicone knocked on the door of his ex’s parents’ Pasco County home wishing to rekindle their relationship after Anita broke up with him citing his vile temper and abuse towards her children. That fateful night, however, he left when Anita threatened to call the sheriff, as per court records.
He then went on to return about an hour later. When Anita’s father Raymond tried to call the sheriff’s office, prosecutors alleged the phone cabling had been torn out at the junction box.
Occhicone then went on to shoot Anita’s father Raymond in the face. As per the Herald-Tribune, Occhicone then broke through a locked door and chased his ex through the house. Anita was able to get outside with her daughter, she later testified, but her mother was not so lucky.
Anita later recounted she heard gunshots ring out as she fled with her child. Her mother, Martha Artzner, was later found dead with five gunshot wounds. Four were to her chest.
Dominick Anthony Occhicone is dead by lethal injection (Image: Florida Department of Corrections)
Raymond Artzner died later in hospital, living just long enough to tell police who had shot him. Occhicone did not deny the evidence later in court, but argued the shootings were not premeditated. He was ultimatley convicted and has been on death row ever since.
Today, Anita’s parents finally got their justice, with Occhicone’s execution finally going ahead. He has become the oldest person to be executed in modern history in Florida and the second-oldest put to death in the US. The oldest was Walter Moody, who was executed at age 83 in 2018.
Florida’s twin executions marks the state’s firsrt since 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie received the electric chair. The last time out two executions were carried out in one day in the US was nearly 10 years ago in 2017 in Arkansas.
Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis has made his state’s death chamber the busiest in the US as the end of his final term approaches. DeSantis has previously said too many families have waited too long to see justice, hence the uptick in lethal injections.
Nationwide, the death penalty had been on the decline for more than 20 years. That number has now tracked back upwards behind the increased pace set in Florida. Since 2025, Florida has carried out nearly half the state executions across the US.