Andrew Lukehart, convicted of fracturing a five-month-old baby's head, is scheduled to be executed in Florida in 2026.

Florida plans its sixth execution of 2026, continuing an accelerated schedule under Gov. Ron DeSantis. A record number of executions happened in 2025.

The execution Thursday of James Hitchcock was the sixth so far in Florida this year, a stunning pace that has Florida leading the nation in executions in 2026 of Death Row inmates. Florida set a new state record in 2025 under Republican Gov.

First Florida executed James Hitchcock for the 1976 murder of his brother's 13-year-old stepdaughter. Then Texas executed James Broadnax for a 2008 double murder.

A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his 13-year-old step-niece to death nearly 50 years ago is set to be executed Thursday evening. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.

A Florida man is scheduled for execution by lethal injection next month after Gov. DeSantis signed a death warrant for his 2000 double murder conviction.