Police Officer James Duckett Sexually Assaulted and Murdered 11-Year-Old Teresa Mae McAbee.

 

Police Officer James Duckett Kidnapped, Sexually Assaulted, and Murdered 11-Year-Old Teresa Mae McAbee

James Aren Duckett was a 29-year-old rookie police officer with the Mascotte Police Department in Florida.

On May 11, 1987, he was the only officer patrolling the town when 11-year-old Teresa Mae McAbee disappeared after walking to a convenience store.

Witnesses saw Teresa get into Duckett's patrol car.

The next morning, her body was found in a nearby lake.

Teresa had been sexually assaulted, strangled, and drowned.

The evidence led directly back to the police officer who had put her in his car.

Investigators found distinctive tire tracks near the lake matching unusual snow tires that had accidentally been installed on Duckett's patrol vehicle.

Teresa's fingerprints and Duckett's were found together on the hood of that vehicle.

Forensic evidence also connected Duckett to Teresa's body.

A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and sexual battery in 1988 and sentenced him to death.

After spending decades on Florida's death row, Duckett was executed by lethal injection on July 28, 2026.

But his execution isn't the part of this story that deserves the final word.

Teresa was eleven.

She encountered a police officer while she was out walking. A child should have been safer because he was there.

Instead, James Duckett used the trust and access that came with his badge to become the person Teresa needed protection from.