He killed to die: Florida executes inmate in its 17th execution this year
James Robertson strangled his cellmate in 2008 to get a death sentence. Critics say the case undercuts claims of deterrence. Two weeks after the Pike case, the debate goes on.
Archive image · Photo: Florida Department of Corrections/Doug Smith / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Florida on Tuesday executed James Robertson, 63, by lethal injection at the state prison near Starke. In 2008, Robertson strangled his sleeping cellmate at Charlotte Correctional Institution with socks tied together. He told investigators he killed so he would be sentenced to death rather than spend the rest of his life under harsh prison conditions. He pleaded guilty and waived all appeals.
It was Florida's 17th execution this year; according to AP, the state has carried out more than half of the roughly 30 U.S. executions in 2026. Two more are scheduled for Oct. 20 and Nov. 5. Gov. Ron DeSantis says his aim is to bring justice to victims' families who have waited decades. The group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty countered that the victim should have been safe in state custody and that the death penalty may have caused the very violence it is meant to prevent.
The execution comes amid a heated debate: on Sept. 30, Christa Pike survived an execution attempt in Tennessee. She was convicted of the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. Gov. Bill Lee afterwards halted all further executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review.
Sources
- WUSF/AP, Florida to execute a prisoner who killed his cellmate in hopes of getting a death sentence, 13.10.2026
- Tampa Free Press, Killed To Die: Florida Executes Inmate James Robertson, 13.10.2026
- Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Statement on the Execution of James Robertson, 13.10.2026
- Northeast Times, Tennessee halts executions after Christa Pike survives two lethal doses, 02.10.2026