Director Robert Patton said inmate Clayton Lockett died yesterday after all three drugs were administered. Patton halted Lockett's execution about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered. He said there had been vein failure.
The execution began at 6:23 pm (local time) when officials began administering the first drug, and a doctor declared Lockett to be unconscious at 6:33 pm (local time).
About three minutes later, though, Lockett began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow. After about three minutes, a doctor lifted the sheet that was covering Lockett to examine the injection site.
After that, an official who was inside the death chamber lowered the blinds, preventing those in the viewing room from seeing what was happening.
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Patton then made a series of phone calls before calling a halt to the execution.
"After conferring with the warden, and unknown how much drugs went into him, it was my decision at that time to stop the execution," Patton told reporters.
"It was extremely difficult to watch," Lockett's attorney, David Autry, said afterward. He also questioned the amount of the sedative midazolam that was given to Lockett, saying he thought that the 100 milligrammes called for in the state's execution protocol was "an overdose quantity."
It was the first time Oklahoma administered midazolam as the first drug in its execution drug combination, but other states have used it. Florida administers 500 milligrammes of midazolam as part of its three-drug combination.
Warner had been scheduled to be put to death two hours later in the same room and on the same gurney. The 46-year-old was convicted of raping and killing his roommate's 11-month-old daughter in 1997. He has maintained his innocence.
Lockett and Warner had sued the state for refusing to disclose details about the execution drugs, including where Oklahoma obtained them.