‘Our monster is dead’, say family of teen girl as Florida man executed nearly 50 years after her murder

Hitchcock sat on Florida’s death row for almost five decades for the murder of 13 year-old Cynthia Driggers (Pictures: Florida Department of Correction/Getty Images)

The final moments came quickly in the end, though the story behind them has dragged on for five decades.

A man convicted of killing his brother’s 13 year-old stepdaughter almost 50 years ago has been put to death in the state of Florida, finally bringing one of the state’s longest-running cases to a close.

The execution of James Ernest Hitchcock took place on Thursday evening at the state prison in Starke, after years of appeals.

Earlier that day, the US Supreme Court rejected a last-minute attempt to halt the process. With that, the final legal route was gone. Hitchcock was to be executed by the state for the 1976 murder of Cynthia Driggers.

Florida executes more prisoners than any other state (Picture: Getty Images)

In the chamber, witnesses watched with little outward reaction as the execution unfolded. The man’s last words were brief and ever-so-slightly cryptic: ‘Just to say goodbye to Joshua, my friend. Thanks for all you’ve done,’ he said, without explaining further.

As the drugs began to take effect, his breathing slowed, then became shallow. Within minutes, it stopped altogether.

Around 11 minutes in, a doctor stepped forward to carry out checks. After examining him, the doctor gave a nod. The death was then formally confirmed.

Outside, the tone was very different. Members of the victim’s family spoke with a mix of relief and reflection, some still clearly carrying the weight of what happened nearly half a century ago.

Cynthia’s family spoke of their relief after Hitchcock’s death by lethal injection (Picture: Getty Images)

The girl’s younger sister, Lynn Cobb, spoke about the life that was cut short. ‘I thank God for giving me the strength and courage all these years and shaping me even through this tragedy for the person I am today,’ she said.

‘We now close the door on this chapter of our lives. We will continue to remember Cindy by keeping her memory alive and always understanding that life is precious and time is valuable.’

However others were more blunt, with one relative describing years of pain that never really faded. ‘For those of you that do not understand why this process is justified, I am certain that you have not known the agony and emotional torture of having someone you love brutally murdered,’ said Ginie Meadows. ‘You’ve not had to sit in a courtroom and have the murderer smirk at your family.’

Her relative, Chip Meadows, said the execution brought a sense of release after decades of waiting. ‘I’ve lived with this for 50 years,’ he said. ‘I can breathe today. I am loving life. Free at last, free at last. Our monster is dead.’

Florida State Prison hosted the executions of 19 prisoners in 2025 and six so far this year (Picture: Getty Images)

The case itself dates back to the mid-1970s. At the time, the man had recently moved into his brother’s home in suburban Orlando. According to court records, he returned there one night after drinking and taking drugs with friends. He crept into the teenager’s room and assaulted her. When she threatened to tell her mother, Hitchcock strangled the girl.

Afterwards, he showered and went to bed. He later confessed, but soon withdrew his confession and accused his brother instead, though a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. The death sentence followed in 1977.

Over the years, the case moved through the courts repeatedly. He was resentenced to death in 1988, again in 1993 and then once again in 1996. Each stage brought fresh appeals, delays and legal arguments.

A last-minute clemency plea to Florida governor Ron DeSantis was rejected (Picture: Florida Department of Correction/AFP)

By the time the execution warrant was signed this year by Ron DeSantis, the case had already outlasted generations of legal change and public debate around capital punishment.

This was the sixth execution carried out in Florida this year alone. Four of the others involved crimes dating back to the 1990s, showing how long these cases can take to reach a conclusion.

The state has been particularly active. In 2025, Florida carried out 19 executions, more than any other governor has overseen there since the death penalty returned in 1976.

The most common method of state execution now is lethal injection (Picture: Getty Images)

Across the United States, 47 people were executed in 2025. Florida led that total, with Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas each recording five.

The Sunshine State’s not finished yet either. Another execution has already been scheduled for later this month. Richard Knight, 47, is due to be put to death on May 21 after being convicted of killing his cousin’s girlfriend and her four year-old daughter.

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