Florida is set to execute two death row inmates, James Aren Duckett and Dominick Anthony Occhicone, on the same day, July 28, for the first time in over 60 years. Duckett, 68, was convicted of raping and drowning an 11-year-old girl in 1987, while Occhicone, 80, was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986.

Background

Duckett’s execution was previously scheduled for March 31, but a stay was issued to allow for DNA testing of old evidence. The results came back inconclusive, and Duckett’s stay was lifted earlier this month. Occhicone’s execution was previously scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 28.

According to court documents, Duckett was the only police officer on duty in Mascotte, about 40 miles west of Orlando, the night of May 11, 1987. Witnesses reported seeing Teresa McAbee getting into Duckett’s patrol car outside a convenience store that evening, and her mother reported her missing several hours later. Her body was found the next morning in a nearby lake.

In Occhicone’s case, authorities said he showed up the morning of June 10, 1986, at a home in Holiday, just north of Clearwater, where his former girlfriend was living with her parents and her two children. After the woman refused to speak with Occhicone, he left for about an hour and returned with a handgun, investigators said.

Execution Details

Florida executions are conducted via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections. Duckett and Occhicone would become the 11th and 12th inmates to be executed in Florida this year if their deaths go as scheduled.

Original reporting: WPBF West Palm Beach — read the source article.