Who was James Robertson? 63-year-old inmate, who killed his cellmate 18 years ago to get the death penalty, is executed in Florida

A prisoner in Florida who had killed his cellmate to be put on death row was executed on Tuesday (Oct. 13), nearly 18 years after the murder. James Robertson, aged 63 at the time of his execution, did not offer any last words before receiving a three-drug injection and was declared dead about 10 minutes later.

Robertson pleaded guilty to cellmate's murder

Robertson had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder over the strangling of Frank Hart in 2008. He also waived all his appeals. Robertson told investigators that he committed the crime so he would not have to spend his life in prison.


Hart was murdered just a few days before he was set to be released, his daughter Rebecca Hart told reporters at Florida State Prison. "When someone you love is taken from you in such a violent way, the world keeps moving, even when a part of yours feels like it has stopped," she said. "Other people go on with their lives, but you carry your loss into every tomorrow," Rebecca added.

Robertson had been in jail since 1980

Robertson was 17 years old when he was imprisoned in 1980 for burglary and assault. But multiple convictions for escape, battery, and weapons over the years kept adding time to his total sentence. Hart had been sent to prison in 2003 after a conviction on a sexual battery charge.

Florida executing more people than any other state

Florida has carried out dozens of executions over the last couple of years. Robertson's was Florida's 17th execution of this year, with two more scheduled to take place. The state has seen over half of the 31 total executions carried out in the US so far this year.

In 2025, governor Ron DeSantis oversaw 19 executions -- more than any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated five decades ago, in 1976. The next execution in Florida is scheduled for October 20, followed by another on November 5.

Renewed attention on death penalty

Robertson's execution comes roughly two weeks after the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, where she was rushed to a hospital after surviving the lethal injection.

It has also come at a time of renewed debate on the death penalty in the US, with the Pentagon announcing plans to livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. That announcement has been criticized by leaders from both the Democratic and the Republican parties.