Florida executes inmate who killed cellmate because he wanted death penalty

A Florida man who said he murdered his cellmate in the hopes of securing a death sentence was executed on Tuesday.

James Robertson, 63, died after receiving a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison. He was pronounced dead about 10 minutes after the lethal injection was administered.

Robertson declined to give a final statement when asked if he had any last words.

“Nah, I’m straight,” he responded.

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Robertson’s execution was a stark contrast to the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee two weeks ago, when she survived two doses of pentobarbital and was rushed to the hospital. Pike has since been released from the hospital and returned to prison.

“Florida has a sound lethal injection process and protocol,” Jordan Kirkland, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson, said at a news conference ahead of the execution.

While he could not speak about Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol, Kirkland said Florida would make sure its process was “humane and dignified.”

Florida injects death row inmates with a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart when they are put to death, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Robertson had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for strangling his cellmate, Frank Hart, as he was sleeping in 2008. He waived all appeals and told investigators that he killed the man so he would be given the death penalty and not have to live out the rest of his days behind bars.

Hart was killed just eight days before he was set to be released, according to his daughter, Rebecca Hart, who emphasized that her father was not only a piece of Robertson’s story.

“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 told reporters outside the prison. “Other people go on with their lives, but you carry your loss into every tomorrow.”

Hart was sentenced to prison in 2003 following a sexual battery conviction.

Robertson was only 17 years old when he was sent to prison in 1980 for burglary and assault. Additional convictions for escape, battery and weapons offenses extended his prison sentence.

Florida was initially scheduled to execute two people on Tuesday, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew a death warrant last week for William Lee Thompson, 74, who was sentenced to death for his role in the 1976 kidnapping and killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester. He was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery in connection with Ivester’s death.

DeSantis did not provide a reason for stopping the execution but had temporarily stayed the execution last month pending a psychiatric evaluation amid concerns about Thompson’s mental competency and deteriorating health. His attorneys said he has dementia and failing health and want him transferred to a medical facility.

This was the first time DeSantis withdrew a death warrant. Thompson will remain on death row, and a new death warrant could be signed in the future.

DeSantis is the third Florida governor to sign a death warrant for Thompson. Former Govs. Bob Graham and Bob Martinez each scheduled executions for Thompson in the 1980s, but he avoided the electric chair, the state’s method of execution at the time, after years of appeals and stays.

In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first time a state has done so in nearly a decade.

Florida has accelerated its pace of executions amid a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis since 2025. The governor oversaw a record 19 executions last year, more than any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, accounting for approximately 40% of the U.S. total for 2025.

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Last year, 47 executions were carried out nationwide, the highest annual total since 2009.

Florida has carried out more than half of the 31 total executions in the country so far this year.

Robertson was the Sunshine State’s 17th execution of 2026, with two more already scheduled, not including Thompson.

William Reaves, 77, who was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy in 1986, is scheduled to be executed Oct. 20. Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled to be executed Nov. 5 for robbing and killing a woman to buy drugs in 2004.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.