Khaberni - The authorities in the state of Florida in the United States, on Thursday, executed the death sentence against prisoner James Hitchcock (70 years old), after about 50 years since his conviction for murder, making him one of the oldest inmates on the death row in the United States.
The prison authorities announced on their official website that the sentence was carried out at exactly 22:12 GMT at the Florida State Prison in Raiford city.
The details of the case date back to 1976, when Hitchcock was convicted in 1977 of murdering his 13-year-old niece. Despite decades of litigation, the man continued to assert his innocence of the charge against him until the last moment.
Simultaneous executions and ongoing controversy
Florida was not the only state to carry out an execution on Thursday, as Texas also executed James Brodnax (37 years old), who was executed by lethal injection after being convicted of a robbery and murder of two people that occurred in 2008. He left a message before his execution emphasizing his innocence saying: "Texas made a mistake, I am innocent."
With the execution of Hitchcock and Brodnax, the number of people executed in the United States since the beginning of this year rises to 10, all of them were executed by "lethal injection," and Florida led the list by carrying out 6 of these sentences.
On the legislative front, the death penalty remains a subject of political and legal debate in the country. 23 US states have abolished the penalty from their laws, while its execution is suspended in 3 other states. In contrast, President Donald Trump is among the most prominent supporters of continuing with this penalty and its implementation.
