In the 39 years Dominick Occhicone has been a resident of Florida’s death row, he says has not slept more than three hours straight each night, according to court records. He uses a hearing aid and has poor eyesight. He has kidney disease and a blocked artery near his heart. He needs prison guards to help him use stairs or take showers.
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On July 28, the state plans to execute him, almost exactly a month shy of his 81st birthday. He would be the oldest person Florida has executed in modern times.
A court document filed Monday in Pasco County illuminates details of Occhicone’s poor health as his attorneys try to persuade a judge to stop his execution.
“The execution of an octogenarian is a manifestly unjust use of the state’s power,” wrote his legal team, led by attorney Ali Shakoor. “And this court can and should correct it.”
Attorneys for the state had yet to respond to the arguments Wednesday morning. Occhicone’s case was set for a hearing Wednesday afternoon before Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa.
Occhicone was condemned to die in 1987 for the murder of his ex-fiancee’s parents. He shot the couple, Raymond and Martha Artzner, after he showed up drunk to their Holiday home early the morning of June 10, 1986. He had been engaged to marry their daughter, Anita Gerrety, but she ended the relationship.
His defense argued at trial that Occhicone was incapable of forming intent to kill, partly due to his extreme alcohol abuse. Court records describe him in 1986 as spending most of his days at bars, where he drank between 10 and 15 vodka cocktails before lunchtime. On the day of the murders, he was said to have drank more than a quart of vodka.
A jury voted 7-5 in favor of the death penalty. Such a vote today would result in life in prison; current Florida law requires a minimum of eight jurors to qualify a death sentence.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Occhicone’s death warrant late last month amid an unprecedented string of state executions. The governor, who leaves office in January, has in the last two years ordered 31 men to die. Florida led the nation in the number of executions — 19 — carried out in 2025, the most in any single year since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979.
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Occhicone’s is the 12th death warrant DeSantis has signed this year.
In addition to a stay of his execution, Occhicone’s legal team asked the judge to order a six-month pause on all state executions. They want experts to examine the effects on the psychological well-being of prison employees.
“The executions have taken a toll on the psyche of correctional staff and are causing moral injury to the state,” they wrote. “Occhicone’s case presents the occasion for a pause to assess the damage which has been done and survey the mental health of the correctional staff.”
The paper states that Occhicone is prepared to testify about his relationship with the prison staff. He has bonded with Randall Polk, the Florida State Prison warden, the paper states.
Polk and his staff, the lawyers argue, should not have to endure “the trauma of caring for and preparing a senior citizen to die.” They understand Occhicone’s “humanity and humor and may be reminded of their own elderly loved ones.”
The bulk of Occhicone’s latest appeal details his poor health. He has limited renal function, with cysts afflicting one of his kidneys. His heart sometimes skips a beat or pulses at a rapid rate. Like many older men, Occhicone suffers from prostate issues and incontinence. He has trouble walking.
His lawyers argue that his execution is “so fundamentally unfair, so wrong, it should shock the conscience” of the people of Florida.
“The execution of Occhicone no longer serves any retributive value based on his advanced age and would serve only the purpose of vengeance, offending the dignity of our society,” the court paper stated.
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