Florida executes double murderer using new drug
STARKE, FLA. » Florida on Thursday put a man to death with an anesthetic never used before in a U.S. lethal injection, carrying out its first execution in more than 18 months on an inmate convicted of two racially motivated murders.
Authorities said Mark Asay, 53, the first white man executed in Florida for the killing of a black man, was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Thursday at the state prison in Starke. Asay received a three- drug injection that began with the anesthetic, etomidate.
Though approved by the Florida Supreme Court, etomidate has been criticized as being unproven in an execution. Etomidate replaced midazolam, which became harder to acquire after many drug companies began refusing to provide it for executions.
Prosecutors say Asay made racist comments in the 1987 fatal shooting of a 3 4 - ye a r - old black man, Robert Lee Booker. Asay also was convicted of the 1987 murder of 26-year- old Robert McDowell, who was mixed race, white and Hispanic.
Asay was asked whether he wanted to make a final statement. “No sir, I do not. Thank you,” he replied.
The execution protocol began at 6:10 p.m. About a minute after the first drug was administered, Asay’s feet jerked slightly and his mouth opened. In a minute or two, he was motionless.
The execution was Florida’s first since the U. S. Supreme Court halted the practice in the state after finding its method for sentencing people to death to be unconstitutional. The high court Thursday had rejected Asay’s final appeal without comment.