DeSantis signs death warrant in 1995 Polk County hammer murder
Curtis Beasley is set for execution on Sept. 29 and is the 16th death row inmate to receive a warrant in Florida this year.
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Curtis Beasley is set for execution on Sept. 29 and is the 16th death row inmate to receive a warrant in Florida this year.
The warrant is the 15th DeSantis has signed this year; Florida has executed 12 inmates so far in 2026.
Alberto Sierra, 42, admitted in court to stabbing his wife and suffocating her 2 daughters more than a decade ago.
The warrant calls for Harold Gene Lucas, 74, to die Sept. 1 by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Florida on Tuesday became the first state in nearly a decade to carry out two executions in a single day, putting to death an 80-year-old man who was the second-oldest inmate known to receive a lethal injection in modern U.S. history.
Tuesday marked the first time since two convicted murderers were executed on a single day — in Arkansas in 2017 — that a state has planned virtually back-to-back executions.
Rafael Andres, 61, had previously been sentenced to death in 2015 for the 2005 murder of Yvette Farinas, but the Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing trial following an appeal.
James Aren Duckett, 68, now awaits action on a similar request from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dominick Occhicone, who also awaits a similar request before the U.S. Supreme Court, killed his former girlfriend's parents four decades ago in Pasco County.
William Frances Silvia, 61, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Aug. 18, according to the warrant.
The action by DeSantis sets up two executions to take place at Florida State Prison on July 28, with James Aren Duckett scheduled to die at noon and Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, at 6 p.m., both by lethal injection.
Florida executed a 74-year-old man, its oldest inmate in over a century, just weeks after executing another inmate who was then the oldest to receive the state's death penalty.
Over 40 years after Patty Gifford vanished, her family sees justice in Dennis Sochor's execution, but their search for her remains goes on.
Florida's next execution set to take place Tuesday for death of woman killed after New Year's celebration 44 years ago in Broward.
Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, was convicted of killing his wife Karen Spencer in 1992.
Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, would become the oldest person put to death in Florida since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, and the ninth man executed in Florida this year.
Dennis Michael Sochor is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in July.
Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, is Florida's eighth execution of 2026 on Tuesday evening.
Although prosecutors are no longer seeking the death penalty against the suspected shooters, Clayton Dillard II said he wants the men to receive the maximum sentence available.
Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 25 at Florida State Prison in Stark, according to the warrant.
This was Florida's seventh execution so far this year, following a state record 19 executions in 2025.
James Ernest Hitchcock was convicted of raping, beating and killing his step-niece in 1976.
Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather.
A death warrant calls for James Ernest Hitchcock, 69, to be put to death by lethal injection on May 7.
The majority of the court agreed to the pause as James Aren Duckett awaits postconviction DNA testing, which he claims will "provide newly discovered evidence of his actual innocence," the court motion states.
