Florida Executes Prisoner Who Killed Cellmate Seeking Death Sentence

A Florida prisoner who claimed he killed his cellmate so he could be moved to death row was executed Tuesday, nearly 18 years after the fatal attack.

James Robertson, 63, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and waived all appeals in the 2008 strangling of Frank Hart. He received a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Robertson's execution occurs as the death penalty faces escalating attention in the U.S. In Tennessee, Christa Pike survived an execution attempt two weeks ago, and last week, the Pentagon announced the livestreaming of the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.

According to court records, Robertson was incarcerated at Charlotte Correctional Institution in December 2008 when he tied several socks together and strangled Hart while the other man slept. Robertson told investigators that the attack was unprovoked and that he killed his cellmate to receive a death sentence rather than spending his life in prison.

Robertson was 17 years old when he entered prison in 1980 for burglary and assault. Subsequent convictions for escape, battery, and weapons offenses while incarcerated added time to his sentence. Hart had been imprisoned since 2003 following a sexual battery conviction.

Robertson pleaded guilty and waived a penalty phase, where a jury would recommend the death penalty or life imprisonment. A judge sentenced Robertson to death, and he later waived all post-conviction proceedings. Earlier this month, Robertson reiterated his position to a judge, stating he understood his execution date and did not wish to pursue final appeals.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty stated that Robertson's case highlights issues with the death penalty. "Frank Hart deserved to be safe in state custody, and his loved ones deserve our compassion," the group's legal and policy director, Maria DeLiberato, said in a statement. "When someone commits murder to try to secure his own execution, we have to confront the conditions that contributed to that decision and the reality that the existence of the death penalty may have caused the very violence it purportedly prevents."

In a separate matter, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew a death warrant last week for William Lee Thompson, who was scheduled to be executed on the same day as Robertson. DeSantis did not provide a reason for withdrawing Thompson's warrant, though he had temporarily stayed his execution the previous month pending a psychiatric evaluation. This is the first time DeSantis has withdrawn a death warrant. Thompson, 74, remains on death row, convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery in the 1976 killing of Sally Ivester.

Thompson will remain on Florida’s death row, and a new death warrant could be signed in the future. His attorneys have cited dementia and failing health, arguing he requires relocation to an adequate medical facility.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has overseen 19 executions in 2025, more than any other Florida governor since the death penalty's reinstatement in 1976. Robertson would be the state's 17th execution of 2026, with two more scheduled later this year.

William Reaves, 77, is scheduled for execution on Oct. 20 for fatally shooting a deputy in 1986. Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled for execution on Nov. 5 for robbing and killing a woman to buy drugs in 2004.

If Reaves and Guardado are executed as planned, it would match the state's 2025 total. DeSantis has previously stated his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.

Nationally, 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida has carried out more than half of the 30 executions in the U.S. so far this year. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection, according to the Department of Corrections.