James Hitchcock was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of his thirteen year old niece
According to court documents James Hitchcock would sexually assault and murder his thirteen year old niece inside of his brothers home. Hitchcock would later tell police that he killed the thirteen year old girl to prevent her from telling her mother on what he had done
James Hitchcock would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
James Hitchcock would be executed by lethal injection on April 30 2026
James Hitchcock Execution
Florida executed James Hitchcock, 70, by lethal injection on Thursday, April 30, for the 1976 rape and strangulation murder of his 13-year-old step-niece Cynthia “Cindy” Driggers. It was Florida’s sixth execution of 2026.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution request earlier in the day.
In the early morning hours of July 31, 1976, Hitchcock raped Driggers, who was just three days shy of her 14th birthday, at his brother’s home in Winter Garden and strangled her to death. In a confession to police, which he later recanted, Hitchcock said he killed the teen to keep her from telling her mother what he’d done
Hitchcock’s final words were, “Just to say goodbye to Joshua my friend. Thanks for all you’ve done.” the Associated Press reported.
Hitchcock’s death sentence was carried out at 6 p.m. in the execution chamber at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m.
He had a last meal that included chicken, salad, ice cream, pie and soda, Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland said during an afternoon news conference.
Following the execution, Cindy Driggers’ family members spoke to the media, remembering Cindy and the toll of retrials and decades of waiting for justice. Several thanked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing Hitchcock’s death warrant and finally receiving justice after 50 long years and expressed the need for executions to be expedited.
“I grew up watching my mother and her brothers and family endure the weight of this loss,” Tanya Clement said while holding up a framed photo of her aunt Cindy. “The appeals, the retrials, three additional trials. These weren’t just events in a case, they were part of my childhood. I witnessed the emotional toll firsthand, even at a young age, it became a defining part of who I am.”
“Our family has been through so much, but we stand here together strong, united and unwavering for my aunt Cindy,” she continued. “She is often spoken about, remembered deeply and I see pieces of her in my own children.”
“Her presence lives on through all of us. Today we remember her, we honor her and today we are finally witnessing justice for her life – hard-found, long-awaited and she is never forgotten.”
“First I want to focus on Cindy,” her younger sister Lynn Cobb. “She was a beautiful, kind and sweet sister. Most saw her as shy and timid. She was so much more than that.”
“We had dreams of airline stewardesses together where we were going to travel the world and experience it all together. God blessed us with 13 short years, our lives were better for it. Cindy added life, fun and dreams.”
“Thank you, Gov. DeSantis, to you and your staff, that have listened and pushed for justice to be given for Cindy,” she said.
“We now close this door on this chapter of our lives.”
“I can breathe today, I am loving life,” Chip Meadows, Cindy’s cousin, said. “Free at last, free at last, our monster is dead. Free at last.”
“There’s not many people who would have made it through 50 years being drug through agony, frustration, anger,” Cindy’s cousin Ginie Meadows said. “You just can’t find the words.”
“The spirit of James Ernest Hitchcock need not be looking for the kingdom of God, because the gates into heaven are narrow. He will never, ever get through them. It is my hope, in fact, that his spirit has now arrived into the bowels of hell.”
She also thanked DeSantis, saying, “With your signature on his death warrant, the 50-year saga of Hitchcock has now become history.”
“I am believing in you, sir, to continue to make strides in honing in on the process of cleaning out death row,” she said, adding that future governors “must be willing to follow the precedents as set forth by Gov. DeSantis concerning the signing and execution of death warrants for those that have earned them. If you are on death row, you’ve earned it.”
“For those of you that just simply do not understand why this process is justified, I am certain that you do not know the agony and emotional turmoil and torture of having someone you love brutally murdered.”
“For me, it is with absolute pleasure that I know James Ernest Hitchcock no longer exists.”
Florida execution of James Hitchock for Cynthia Driggers murder: Recap
