FLORIDA – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday evening signed a new death warrant for James Aren Duckett after the Florida Supreme Court lifted its stay of the former Mascotte police officer’s previously scheduled execution, according to our partners at News Service of Florida.
The action by DeSantis sets up two executions to take place at Florida State Prison on July 28, with Duckett scheduled to die at noon and Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, at 6 p.m., both by lethal injection.
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Occhicone, who is set to become the oldest person put to death by the state in the modern execution era, killed his former girlfriend’s parents four decades ago in Pasco County.
Duckett was convicted of the 1987 death of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee.
Duckett, 68, was scheduled to be executed on March 31, but the justices imposed a stay to allow for the completion of DNA testing and a subsequent statistical analysis of the DNA sample.
The testing and analysis of semen and hair samples found on McAbee’s clothes reportedly provided no new evidence to clear Duckett.
The latest warrant for Duckett, 68, came a week after the court agreed with the state that “prolonging the stay is unjustified as Duckett has no substantial grounds to delay execution of his death sentence.”
Duckett’s legal team expressed being “disappointed” by DeSantis’ action, arguing “the state’s own decisions prevented a full and reliable evaluation that could have demonstrated his long-maintained innocence.”
“The inconclusive test results are a direct consequence of the State’s own decisions,” counsel from Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty wrote in a statement. “They chose the laboratory, chose the testing method, and chose expediency over the truth of what happened to Teresa McAbee. Now, they seek to execute our client without the full truth ever being revealed.”
Click here to read the full story on News Service of Florida.