State uses Wrong Medication in Execution of Charles Warner

Cue the tiny violins…

Charles Frederick Warner muttered the words “My body is on fire” before he fell unconscious and slowly died. Convicted of sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend's 11-month-old daughter eight years earlier, Warner was sentenced to die by lethal injection as his punishment.

H is execution date had been pushed back three times. Finally, on January 15, 2015, the state carried out punishment nine months after his second execution date in April 2014.

The state halted the execution after the botched execution of inmate Clayton Lockett. Warner sat in the death chamber waiting for his turn to die when the state halted the execution.

The entire execution process took about 17 minutes. Charles Warner was pronounced dead at 7:28 p.m.

Per protocols for executions in Oklahoma, officials must use specific drugs to carry out the three-injection death process. The state violated this protocol when they injected Warner with potassium acetate -not potassium chloride as protocols require.

What is Potassium Chloride?

Oklahoma uses a three-drug lethal injection process. This requires death penalty administrators to inject the inmate with a cocktail of three medications, which should cause a pain-free death. The process can take up to two hours if complications arise.

Potassium chloride is a potassium salt used to increase the blood and cardiac concentration of potassium to stop the heart from creating a normal heartbeat. This results in death. Potassium acetone is practically medically indistinguishable.

What Caused the Lethal Injection Medicine Mix-Up?

The mix-up occurred after the State of Oklahoma inadvertently purchased Vilas of potassium acetone rather than the required potassium chloride. The execution of Richard Glossip was postponed on September 30, 2014, after officials discovered the mix-up.

The state originally planned to execute Warner on April 29, 2014, the same day as they executed Clayton Lockett. However, due to the execution going haywire, his execution date was postponed by more than one year. Officials thought all of the vials of potassium acetone had been removed from its laboratory.

Why Was Warner Sentenced to Death?

Warner dated Shonda Waller in 1997. The young mother left her 11-month-old daughter, Adrianna, home with Warner while she went to the grocery store. Waller returned a short time later, finding Adrianna undressed and limp. She rushed her to Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Medical staff determined Adrianna’s skull, jaw, and ribs were fractured. Her spleen and lungs were bruised and her liver was lacerated. As a nurse cleaned the tiny baby who weighed under 20-pounds so Waller could hold her one last time, she noticed signs of sexual abuse.

Warner fought the execution but unsuccessfully exhausted all his appeals. Adrianna’s mother felt that sentencing him to death was an injustice to her daughter.

“I don't see any justice in just sentencing someone to die," Waller said. "To me, the justice is in someone living with what they have done to you, your family, and having to live with that for the rest of their life knowing they will never walk out those bars."

Rest in peace, Adrianna.

My Thoughts

I wholeheartedly believe families should pick punishments for criminals like this. However, I am a proud supporter of the death penalty and personally hope he felt twice as much pain as Adrianna.