An 11-year-old girl walked to a convenience store to buy a pencil and never came home.
That was 1987 – and the cop who put her in his patrol car, r**ed her, and drowned her in a nearby lake has been sitting on death row ever since.
Now Florida is done waiting with two executions scheduled to take place on the same day.
DeSantis Signs the Warrant
On July 14, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for James Duckett, the former Mascotte police officer convicted of murdering Teresa Mae McAbee – scheduling his execution for noon on July 28.
Six hours later that evening, Dominick Anthony Occhicone Jr. is set to die for walking into his ex-fiancée's home in 1986 and shooting both of her parents dead.
It will be the first time Florida has executed two people on the same day since May 12, 1964.
That night – July 28 – is not a coincidence.
It is a statement.
What Took 40 Years
Teresa McAbee was 11 years old when she walked to her local Circle K around 10 p.m. on May 11, 1987.
Duckett was the only officer on patrol in Mascotte that night.
Witnesses saw him put Teresa in his patrol car and drive off.
The next morning, a fisherman found her body in Knight Lake.
Duckett was convicted in 1988 on circumstantial evidence: tire tracks, comingled fingerprints on his patrol car, and the testimony of witnesses who placed her in his vehicle.
He has claimed innocence ever since – including a final bid for DNA testing that the Florida Supreme Court allowed in March 2026.
The results came back inconclusive.
The stay expired July 11.
https://twitter.com/FinalVerdic/status/2077786069110583389?s=20
DeSantis signed the warrant three days later.
Florida Supreme Court Justice Adam Tanenbaum put it plainly: "There is no exonerating evidence at all to justify any further delay in the defendant's execution, which has been a long time coming. Justice for the victim and her family has been delayed far too long."
The defendant's time is up.
The Oldest Man on Florida's Death Row
Dominick Occhicone is 80 years old.
In the early hours of June 10, 1986, he showed up at the Holiday, Florida home of his ex-fiancée and started banging on windows and doors.
Her 66-year-old father came out to confront him.
Occhicone shot him dead, then ran inside and killed her 62-year-old mother.
The ex-fiancée and her 10-year-old daughter escaped.
He was sentenced to death for each murder.
Four decades later, he will become the oldest person executed in Florida history – and the second oldest in U.S. history – when the lethal injection is administered at 6 p.m. on July 28.
Some critics say it's cruel to execute an 80-year-old man.
Nobody asked what was cruel about smiling at a woman while you shot her father.
Florida Is Now the Execution Capital of America
Since January 2025, Florida has carried out 29 of the 64 executions in the United States – 45% of the national total from a single state.
Texas held that title for decades.
DeSantis changed that.
He has signed more death warrants than any governor in Florida history and pushed through legislation expanding the death penalty to cover child sex crimes – and broadening execution methods to include anything "not deemed unconstitutional," which experts say technically permits everything from lethal injection to hanging.
Critics call it political theater ahead of a 2028 presidential run.
DeSantis calls it justice.
"There's a saying: Justice delayed is justice denied," he told ProPublica. "We're doing it to be able to bring justice to the victims' families."
The families of Teresa McAbee and Raymon and Martha Artzner have been waiting nearly 40 years.
Whatever you think of Ron DeSantis, he's the first governor in a generation willing to tell them the wait is over.
Sources:
- Amanda Lee Myers, "Florida to carry out double execution for first time in over 60 years," USA TODAY, July 15, 2026.
- "Florida schedules rare double execution on July 28," WWSB/MySuncoast.com, July 15, 2026.
- "Florida set to execute two inmates on the same day for the first time in more than 60 years," WCTV, July 15, 2026.
- Duckett v. State, Florida Supreme Court, SC2026-0449, 2026.
- "Florida sets execution date for convicted killer James Duckett," ClickOrlando.com, July 15, 2026.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis, interview with ProPublica, June 2026.
