Florida executes death row inmate after rape and murder of teen | US | News
James Ernest Hitchcock (Image: Florida Department of Corrections)
The death row prisoner who raped, beat and strangled his step-niece to death was executed. 70-year-old James Ernest Hitchcock committed the horrific crime 50 years ago after the 13-year-old boy threatened to tell his mother what he had done.
He was administered a triple-drug lethal injection at the Florida State Penitentiary, where he was first sentenced to death in 1977 after being convicted of first-degree murder in the July 31, 1976, slaying of Cynthia Driggers.
Following a series of appeals, he was sentenced to death again in 1988, 1993 and 1996, according to NBC News.
Court records reveal that Hitchcock was unemployed and moved into his brother’s Orlando home a few weeks before he killed his stepdaughter.
According to the information he gave to the police after his arrest, Hitchcock said that he returned to his family’s house after drinking beer and marijuana with friends for several hours.
Death Chamber at the Southern Ohio Penitentiary (Image: Getty Images)
Investigators said Hitchcock, then 20, entered the 13-year-old girl’s bedroom and raped her.
When the girl told Hitchcock that she was injured and wanted to tell her mother, Hitchcock tried to stop her from leaving the room before strangling her, authorities said. Daily Star.
Hitchcock dragged the girl outside, where he beat and strangled her until she stopped moving, then left her body hidden in nearby bushes.
Then he went inside, took a shower and went to bed.
She later testified that her brother entered the girl’s room shortly after having consensual sex with Hitchcock.
Hitchcock claimed that his brother dragged the girl outside and beat and strangled her in a violent rage, claiming that by the time he managed to push his brother away, the woman was already dead.
Hitchcock initially maintained that he accepted responsibility to protect his brother.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the objection to postpone Hitchcock’s execution.
His legal team had argued that he was innocent and that the state unlawfully denied him access to public records related to the death penalty.
Hitchcock’s execution was Florida’s sixth this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025.
According to the Department of Corrections, all executions carried out in Florida are done by lethal injection, which consists of a sedative, a paralyzing agent, and a heart-stopping drug.
