Reports: Oklahoma Horribly Botches Execution
The details coming out of Oklahoma about the botched execution of inmate Clayton Lockett are barbaric.
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — The director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections says an inmate whose execution was halted because the delivery of a new drug combination was botched has died of a heart attack.
Director Robert Patton says inmate Clayton Lockett died Tuesday after all three drugs were administered.
Patton halted Lockett’s execution about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered. He says there was a vein failure.
Lockett was writhing on the gurney and shaking uncontrollably.
The AP story was very obviously rushed out, so we should probably apply the 24-hour rule here. But clearly, something went very wrong tonight in McAlester, Oklahoma.
And this should be a wake-up call for anyone who still supports our broken capital punishment system.
