Florida Schedules James Robertson’s Execution for October 13

Florida scheduled James Robertson, 63, to receive a three-drug lethal injection at noon on October 13 at Florida State Prison near Starke. The reports published before the scheduled time do not confirm whether the execution was carried out. Robertson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the December 2008 killing of his cellmate, Frank Hart, and waived the penalty phase and later appeals. According to court records, Robertson tied several socks together and strangled Hart while he slept at Charlotte Correctional Institution. Investigators said Robertson told them the attack was unprovoked and that he killed Hart to receive a death sentence rather than spend the rest of his life in prison. A judge sentenced Robertson to death, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the sentence in 2016. At a hearing earlier this month, Robertson told a judge he understood an execution had been scheduled and did not want to pursue final appeals, according to the reports. If carried out, the execution would be Florida’s 17th in 2026. The state executed 19 people in 2025, the highest annual total for Florida since executions resumed in 1976, according to the reports.