Florida man faces execution for the murder of his brother's stepdaughter nearly 50 years ago
James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, is set to be executed in Florida for the 1976 murder of his brother's 13-year-old stepdaughter, Cynthia Driggers, a case that has spanned nearly five decades of legal appeals. Convicted of first-degree murder and initially sentenced to death in 1977, Hitchcock's case underwent multiple resentencings and legal challenges over claims of unfair trial procedures and improper jury selection. The execution, scheduled for Thursday evening at Florida State Prison, marks Florida's sixth execution in 2025, a year in which the state has carried out a record number of death penalty cases under Governor Ron DeSantis.
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STARKE, Fla. — A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his brother’s 13-year-old stepdaughter to death nearly 50 years ago is set to be executed Thursday evening. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Hitchcock was initially sentenced to death in 1977 after being convicted of first-degree murder in the July 31, 1976, killing of Cynthia Driggers. Then came years of appeals: Hitchcock’s lawyers argued that the trial judge had barred consideration of mitigating evidence, that they weren’t allowed to keep three people off the jury and that he was falsely portrayed as a pedophile. He was resentenced to death in 1988, 1993 and 1996. After that, no governor signed his death warrant until Gov.
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