Florida executed Dennis Sochor, a 74-year-old convicted murderer, on Tuesday, July 15, 2026, at the state prison near Starke. Sochor was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. after receiving a three-drug lethal injection, making him one of the oldest prisoners executed in Florida’s history, the nation’s busiest death penalty state.

Sochor was convicted for the murder of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford, which occurred on January 1, 1982, just hours after they met at a New Year’s Eve party. At the scheduled execution time of 6 p.m., Sochor was strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm. When asked by the warden if he had any last words, Sochor said he did and commended his spirit to Jesus Christ shortly before the drugs were administered at 6:03 p.m.

A medic was summoned at 6:14 p.m., shortly before Sochor was pronounced dead.

Patricia Gifford’s family noted that Sochor spent more than twice as long on death row as Patricia lived. A family member stated, “Tonight’s execution was appropriate because Dennis Sochor was a lifelong brutal and sadistic man.”

According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the oldest prisoners previously executed by the state were both 72 years old: Samuel Lee Smithers, executed on October 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women, and R Charlie Gifford, executed on February 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting of state representative Charles Schuh Jr.

If Sochor’s execution had proceeded as planned, he would become the second oldest prisoner known to be put to death in modern U.S. history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr.

This execution is part of a series involving three older prisoners scheduled for execution within the span of a month in Florida.

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