Florida carried out the execution of one of its oldest inmates on Tuesday, a 74-year-old convicted murderer, who was part of a trio of older prisoners set for execution within a month in the state with the highest number of death penalties in the country.
Dennis Sochor was declared dead at 6:16 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Sochor was found guilty of murdering Patricia Gifford on January 1, 1982, shortly after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve celebration.
Sochor was already prepared on a gurney with an IV in his arm when the execution began at 6 p.m. When asked for any final words by the warden, Sochor expressed his apologies to the Gifford family, acknowledged his remorse for his actions, thanked his supporters, and entrusted his spirit to Jesus Christ.
The lethal drugs were administered at 6:03 p.m. Sochor displayed heavy breathing for about a minute, followed by moments of sputtering. After a period of stillness, the warden attempted to get a response from Sochor to no avail. A medic was called in at 6:14 p.m., and Sochor was pronounced dead shortly after.
Another 74-year-old inmate, only a week younger than Sochor at the time of execution, was executed at the end of the previous month. Furthermore, the state is gearing up to execute an 80-year-old inmate later this month, marking the state’s first octogenarian to receive a lethal injection.
These executions underline the aging population on death row in the U.S. and the high number of executions in Florida, which has conducted 10 out of the 16 executions in the nation this year, surpassing all other states combined.
The reasons behind Florida’s consecutive scheduling of the three executions remain unclear. Maria DeLiberato, legal director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, pointed out that in Florida, the governor has significant authority in scheduling executions, unlike many other states where courts handle the scheduling process.
The office of Governor Ron DeSantis did not provide a response to inquiries regarding the executions before Tuesday’s execution.
According to court records, Gifford met Sochor and his brother at a bar in the Fort Lauderdale area while celebrating the upcoming New Year with a friend. The evening took a tragic turn when Gifford was attacked by Sochor, leading to her disappearance.
Sochor was eventually apprehended in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges and extradited back to Florida. Subsequently, he was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1987 for Gifford’s death.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Sochor’s final plea for intervention on Tuesday, and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals last week, including claims of a violation of his right to a fair trial.
Before Tuesday, Dusty Ray Spencer, aged 74, was the oldest inmate executed in Florida for the murder of his wife Karen. Records from the Florida Department of Corrections indicate that the previous oldest inmates executed by the state were both 72 years old.
Dominick Anthony Occhicone, aged 80, is set to be executed on July 28 for the murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. If the execution proceeds as planned, he would become the second oldest prisoner executed in modern U.S. history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr., who was executed in Alabama in 2018 for multiple murders.
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