A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his brother's 13-year-old stepdaughter to death nearly 50 years ago was executed on Thursday (April 30, 2026) evening.
James Ernest Hitchcock (70) was pronounced dead at 6.12 pm following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, the Florida Department of Corrections said in a statement. Hitchcock was convicted of the July 1976 killing of Cynthia Driggers.