Florida uses new anesthetic in execution
Inmate is first white to be executed for killing a black man
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 53-year-old Mark Asay, 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 by some 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 34-year-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. A minute or two later, he was motionless and subsequently was pronounced dead by a doctor.
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 earlier Thursday had rejected Asay’s final appeal.
Asay was the first white man to be executed in Florida for killing a black man. At least 20 black men have been executed for killing white victims since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center. A total of 92 Florida inmates had been executed previously in that time period.
Etomidate is the first of three drugs administered in Florida’s new execution mixture. It is replacing midazolam, which has been harder to acquire after many drug companies began refusing to provide it for executions.
The etomidate is followed by rocuronium bromide, a paralytic, and finally, potassium acetate, which stops the heart. It is Florida’s first time using potassium acetate too, which was used in a 2015 execution in Oklahoma by mistake.
While the state’s high court has approved the use of etomidate, some experts have criticized the drug as being unproven.
State corrections officials have defended the choice, saying it has been reviewed. The corrections department refused to answer questions about how it chose etomidate.
Doctors hired by Asay’s attorneys raised questions about etomidate in court declarations, saying there are cases where it had caused pain along with involuntary writhing in patients.