James Robertson, 63, died Tuesday at Florida State Prison after a three-drug injection, in the state's 17th execution of 2026. He had admitted strangling his cellmate so he’d get a death sentence instead of spending the rest of his life in prison. Officials pronounced him dead about 10 minutes later. Asked for final words, Robertson said, “Nah, I’m straight.”
The Crime and the Sentence
Robertson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for strangling his sleeping cellmate, Frank Hart, in 2008. He waived all appeals. He told investigators he killed Hart to receive a death sentence. The killing came eight days before Hart was due to be released, his daughter, Rebecca Hart, told reporters outside the prison.
“When someone you love is taken from you in such a violent way, the world keeps moving, even when a part of yours feels like it has stopped,” she said. “Other people go on with their lives, but you carry your loss into every tomorrow.” Hart received a prison sentence in 2003 after a sexual battery conviction.
Robertson knew the system well. He entered prison in 1980 at age 17 for burglary and assault, and later convictions for escape, battery and weapons offenses kept him behind bars longer. He’d spent decades in custody, yet he still killed a sleeping inmate just days before that inmate’s release.
The Protocol Question
The execution came two weeks after Tennessee botched Christa Pike’s execution. Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital, went to a hospital, and has since been released and returned to prison. Florida officials quickly drew a distinction. Jordan Kirkland, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson, said before Tuesday’s execution, “Florida has a sound lethal injection process and protocol.” He said he couldn’t speak about Tennessee’s protocol, but Florida would ensure its process was “humane and dignified.”
According to the Department of Corrections, Florida uses a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart. Tuesday’s execution proceeded without reported complications.
A Warrant Withdrawn
Florida had initially scheduled two executions for Tuesday. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew a death warrant last week for William Lee Thompson, 74, sentenced to death for his role in the 1976 kidnapping and killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester. A jury convicted Thompson of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery.
DeSantis gave no reason. Last month, he temporarily stayed the execution pending a psychiatric evaluation amid concerns about Thompson’s mental competency and deteriorating health. Thompson’s attorneys said he has dementia and failing health, and sought his transfer to a medical facility.
DeSantis had never withdrawn a death warrant before. Thompson remains on death row, and officials could sign a new warrant. DeSantis is the third Florida governor to sign one for him. Former Govs. Bob Graham and Bob Martinez each scheduled executions in the 1980s, but Thompson avoided the electric chair, then Florida’s method, after years of appeals and stays.
The Pace of Executions
The numbers are striking. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first time a state had done so in nearly a decade. DeSantis has signed a flurry of death warrants since 2025, and he oversaw a record 19 executions last year, more than any Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty returned in 1976. That accounted for approximately 40% of the U.S. total for 2025.
Nationwide, states carried out 47 executions last year, the highest annual total since 2009. Florida has carried out more than half of the country's 31 executions so far this year.
More executions are scheduled. William Reaves, 77, convicted of fatally shooting a deputy in 1986, is scheduled for execution Oct. 20. Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled for Nov. 5 for robbing and killing a woman to buy drugs in 2004.
Why This Matters:
Florida’s docket shows how long justice can take: Reaves’ crime dates to 1986, Guardado’s to 2004, and Thompson’s to 1976, a case that has outlasted three governors. For victims’ families, those decades measure the cost of delay. Robertson’s case raises a different question: a man who killed to secure a death sentence forced the state to weigh punishment against his stated wishes. DeSantis’ first withdrawal of a warrant, over competency and health concerns, suggests the process still allows individual review even at an accelerated pace. With two more executions scheduled and a new Thompson warrant possible, Florida’s approach will keep drawing scrutiny, particularly after Tennessee’s failed procedure. The state’s assurance of a “humane and dignified” process is now the standard against which it will be judged.