A man convicted of killing his parents and sister was put to death early today after the courts allowed America’s first video-recorded execution in nearly 20 years.
Andrew DeYoung (37) received a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson, Georgia, after courts turned down his appeals.
A videographer with a camera on a tripod stood about 5ft away from the trolley inside the execution chamber. Lawyers for fellow death row inmate Gregory Walker argued that recording DeYoung’s execution would provide critical evidence about effect of a sedative, pentobarbital, which is used as the first step in Georgia’s execution procedure.
When asked to make a final statement, DeYoung said he was “sorry to everyone I hurt”.
“I love you Dawn. Remember to smile,” DeYoung said. His lawyer said Dawn was an old friend. He declined the offer of a final prayer.
Department of Corrections officials said he took a sedative pill offered to him beforehand.
When the three-drug injection began, DeYoung blinked and swallowed for about two minutes, then his eyes closed and he became still. He was pronounced dead at 8.04pm local time yesterday.
The execution had initially been set for Wednesday but was put back a day as the state tried to block the video recording.
Lawyers for fellow inmate Mr Walker argued that recording DeYoung’s execution would provide critical evidence in his appeal about the effects of pentobarbital, which they said does not adequately sedate the inmate and could cause pain and suffering.
In court filings, state prosecutors argued that having a videographer in the execution chamber would jeopardise the state’s carefully-scripted security. They also said creating a video came with the risk of it being distributed.
Fulton County Superior Court judge Bensonetta Lane allowed the recording to take place and that decision was upheld by Georgia Supreme Court yesterday. The video will be kept under seal by the court.
Governor Nathan Deal said it was up to the courts to decide the matter, though he told reporters following a news conference that he had “grave reservations” about videotaping executions.
Defence lawyers countered in a motion filed yesterday that the state corrections department had long allowed cameras to film parts of the prison, although they acknowledged the state has never before allowed an execution to be recorded.
“It is simply disingenuous to assert that video recording of Mr DeYoung’s execution constitutes a fundamental threat to the security of the institution,” they wrote in the filing.
The use of pentobarbital became an issue in Georgia after the execution in June of another inmate Roy Blankenship.
Blankenship was the first Georgia prisoner put to death using the sedative pentobarbital as the lead drug in the state’s lethal three-drug combination.
A witnessed claimed to see Blankenship jerking his head several times during the procedure, looking at the injection sites in his arms and muttering after the pentobarbital was injected into his veins.
Death penalty critics said Blankenship’s unusual movements were proof that Georgia should not have used pentobarbital to sedate him before injecting pancuronium bromide to paralyse him and then potassium chloride to stop his heart.
State prosecutors have raised questions about the timeline cited in the witness account and argued Blankenship’s movements occurred before the sedative took hold.
The state attorney general’s office has said adequate safeguards are in place to prevent needless suffering, including a consciousness check before the second and third drugs are administered.
The consciousness check was used for the first time in Blankenship’s execution and was performed again on DeYoung.
A nurse in the chamber throughout the procedure touched his eyes and his arm. DeYoung showed no signs of movement and the execution continued.
States have been turning to pentobarbital to carry out executions since the manufacturer of another sedative announced it would not resume production in the US. Pentobarbital has been used this year to put at least 18 inmates to death in eight states.
DeYoung was convicted of killing his mother, father and 14-year-old sister Sarah when he was a student at Kennesaw State University. Prosecutors say he wanted to use his inheritance to start a business.