The Associated Press has reported a resumption of double executions in the U.S. state of Florida. On Tuesday morning, the death sentence was carried out against 68-year-old former police officer James Duckett, who had been convicted of the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Theresa McAbee.
He declined to make a final statement before receiving the lethal injection. The victim’s mother, Dorothy Tula, stated that she had waited nearly 40 years for this moment. The second person scheduled for execution that same day was 80-year-old Dominic Occhicone, who had killed his girlfriend’s parents in 1986.
Florida has sharply increased its use of capital punishment: since the beginning of 2025, 30 death sentences have been carried out—more than in all other states combined.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a record number of execution warrants since the practice was reinstated in 1976. Human rights advocates have described the situation as an unprecedented escalation of cruelty, though authorities insist they are delivering justice for the victims’ families.
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