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Tennessee finally executed death row inmate Billy Ray Irick on Thursday night, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a final request to stay his execution. Irick became the first inmate to be executed since 2009. He was also the first one to receive the new and controversial three-drug cocktail from Tennessee.
The lethal injection used on Irick was made up of compounded midazolam, used to force a person to be unable to feel pain during an execution, a paralytic drug called vecuronium bromide, and compounded potassium chloride for the killing agent.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tennessee carried out the execution Thursday of a man condemned for the 1985 rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl, marking the first time the state has applied the death penalty in nearly a decade<a href="https://t.co/r9XxBA6Y0n">https://t.co/r9XxBA6Y0n</a></p>— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSThisMorning/status/1027859549594836992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The U.S. Supreme Court described potassium chloride as "chemically burning at the stake."
Irick was convicted of the 1985 horrific rape and murder of 7-year-old Paula Dyer.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm conflicted. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for this man who raped and murdered a 7 yr old child.<br><br>Tennessee executes killer with controversial drugs that Justice Sotomayor said could inflict ‘torturous pain’<a href="https://t.co/BZf3dhES6N">https://t.co/BZf3dhES6N</a></p>— Tina Carter (@tlc1946) <a href="https://twitter.com/tlc1946/status/1027725824764477440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Irick was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. In the room with him was Deputy Atty. Gen. Scott Sutherland, Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones, seven media witnesses and Irick's attorney witness, Eugene Shiles.
There have been questions about Midazolam's effectiveness as a sedative in executions. Often controversial, the use of Midazolam has come before courts many times and has been used in multiple highly-criticized executions.
States were left with little choice but to turn to Midazolam in recent years as they struggled to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections, a shortage inspired in part by the objections drugmakers have to their products being used to carry out death sentences.
Due to the shortage, states have turned to new and untested drug combinations or explored other execution methods.
Robert Durhan, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, also raised the second concern in Irick’s execution. He brought up the fact that the death row inmate was mentally ill.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Protesting the unjust execution of Billy Ray Irick in Tennessee. He is severely mentally ill and should have never been found eligible for the death penalty at the time of his trial in 1986. <a href="https://t.co/ocA1PfToGe">pic.twitter.com/ocA1PfToGe</a></p>— Griffin Hardy (@GriffinHardy) <a href="https://twitter.com/GriffinHardy/status/1027703183437701121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The state has a pending legislation that it becomes a law would make it illegal to administer the death penalty to an inmate with a serious mental illness.
Other states have been dealing with the shortage of drugs needed for lethal injections in various ways. Oklahoma announced this year that it would start using nitrogen gas rather than lethal injections in response to the shortage.
Utah for its part previously adopted firing squads as the state's backup method of execution.
Just last month, Nevada authorities were hours away from carrying out the country's first execution using fentanyl when a judge ordered it canceled due to a challenge from Alvogen, a drug company.
Arkansas resumed executions last year after a 12-year lull, carrying out four lethal injections in eight days. Officials said that frantic pace was necessary because their stock of Midazolam was about to expire.
Source:
Twitter: #MAGA #KeepAmericaGreat! #Tennessee #DeathPenalty #ShortageinDrugsforDeathPenalty #MentallyIll
In cases like this I think we need to look to the past for inspiration, specifically, the Middle Ages. I present, for your delectation, “breaking on the wheel “.
What is controversial is the fact this POS was condemned to death back in 1985 for the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl and it took 33 years to send him back to hell, where he likely came from.
wtg Tennessee. I consider myself a compassionate guy, but I'm not concerned with whether this monster felt pain or not. It's still not comparable to the pain and fear that poor little girl must have experienced in her last moments.
I have no compassion for child molesters. Personally I think they should be stoned to death after being tortured for weeks/months/years. I’d gladly take the job of torturing chomos for free. But they should have given him a more painful death.
Just gas the bastards using cheap Zyklon B. It's still being produced (under different trade names) in America.