Florida executed James Robertson, 63, by lethal injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison, making him the first prisoner executed in the United States since Tennessee’s unsuccessful attempt to execute Christa Pike on Sept. 30. The Florida Department of Corrections said Robertson was pronounced dead at 12:32 p.m.

Robertson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for strangling his cellmate, Frank Hart, in 2008 at Charlotte Correctional Institution. Prosecutors said Robertson used several socks tied together to choke Hart, who was just eight days away from his scheduled release.

Robertson told investigators he killed Hart because he did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison. He waived his appeals and declined to make a final statement before his execution.

Robertson had been incarcerated since 1980, when he entered prison at age 17 for burglary and assault. Subsequent convictions for escape, battery and weapons offenses extended his time behind bars.

Hart’s daughter, Rebecca Hart, addressed reporters outside the prison following the execution, describing the lasting pain of losing a loved one to violence.

The execution comes amid scrutiny of Tennessee’s Sept. 30 attempt to execute Pike, 50, who was convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of former classmate Colleen Slemmer, 19. Pike’s attorneys said she remained alive after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was subsequently taken to a hospital.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review of the failed procedure and canceled the state’s remaining scheduled execution for the year.

Florida and Tennessee use different lethal-injection protocols. Florida employs a three-drug combination beginning with the sedative etomidate, while Tennessee relies on pentobarbital.

Robertson’s death marked Florida’s 17th execution this year, accounting for more than half of the 31 executions reported nationwide in 2026. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw 19 executions in 2025, the highest annual total under a Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

DeSantis recently withdrew a death warrant for William Lee Thompson, 74, who had been scheduled to die alongside Robertson. Two other Florida inmates remain scheduled for execution: William Reaves, 77, on Oct. 20 and Jesse Guardado, 64, on Nov. 5.