Share and Follow
The state Supreme Court has decided to uphold the suspension of the execution of a former police officer, convicted of the rape and murder of a young girl nearly four decades ago. This development unfolded on Monday when the court rejected the state’s appeal to remove the stay, as revealed in official court documents.
James Duckett, previously a police officer in Mascotte, faced accusations of targeting 11-year-old Teresa McAbee back in 1987. His execution was initially set for Tuesday.
This motion emerged following DNA testing on biological evidence from the victim’s clothing. The defense argued that this evidence had the potential to prove Duckett’s innocence. However, the results, received last Friday, were inconclusive, as noted in court records.
Given the lack of definitive exoneration from the DNA findings, Florida’s attorney general promptly sought to have the stay lifted, pressing the state Supreme Court to proceed with the execution as planned.
The high court, however, denied the request on Monday, with six of seven justices opting to keep the execution on hold while giving the lower court time to review “successive claims” tied to the DNA evidence and requiring status updates on any outstanding issues by Thursday, April 2.
The case against Duckett — who has spent nearly 40 years on Florida’s death row — has drawn intense scrutiny due to his former role as a police officer and his longstanding claims of innocence.
A general view of the Florida Supreme Court, on Monday, Jan 12, 2026, in Tallahassee, Florida. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
On May 11, 1987, then-29-year-old Mascotte police officer James Duckett was seen questioning a young girl at a convenience store near Orlando before ultimately placing her in his patrol car, arguing that it was past curfew.
The 11-year-old reportedly went to the convenience store that night, but never made it home, according to Fox 35 Orlando. Her body was reportedly found the next morning in Knight Lake, less than a mile from the store, and she had been sexually assaulted, strangled and drowned.
Duckett was identified as the last person to see her.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a news conference at the Orlando Office of the Attorney General on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
At the time, an FBI expert testified that a pubic hair found at the scene matched Duckett’s, although hair microscopy has since been discredited as an unreliable forensic method.
Fingerprints from both Duckett and Teresa were reportedly found on the hood of his patrol car, and tire tracks at the lake matched the Mascotte police department’s “mud and snow” tires.
In addition, Duckett’s radio logs showed a mysterious gap of more than one hour on the night of the murder.
Duckett represents one of the few former law enforcement officers on death row. The case currently hinges on whether 1980s-era forensic evidence, such as hair matching, is enough to uphold a death sentence when modern DNA testing fails to provide a definitive answer.