Florida is on track to match its single-year record for state executions following Gov. Ron DeSantis’s decision to sign the administration’s 19th death warrant of the year, scheduling the lethal injection of 63-year-old James “Chicken Head” Robertson.
Robertson is scheduled to be put to death at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Florida State Prison in Starke. State corrections officials noted that Robertson is slated to become the 17th condemned inmate executed in Florida this year, moving ahead of two other prisoners who were already awaiting execution dates. The scheduling comes on the heels of the recent Thursday execution of the “Hog Trail Killer,” who was put to death for a 1996 Charlotte County murder.
Robertson’s path through the Florida correctional system spans more than four decades. He first entered state custody as a teenager in 1980 after receiving consecutive sentences for a violent series of offenses across several counties, including burglary, aggravated assault, and attempted murder. Prison records indicate that under those original sentences, he would not have been eligible for release until 2038…