Independent Pathologist Says Autopsy Reveals Problems With Virginia’s Execution of Ricky Gray

Something went wrong during the execution of Ricky Gray (pictured), who was put to death in Virginia on January 18, 2017, according to an independent expert who reviewed the official autopsy report of Gray’s death. Dr. Mark Edgar, associate director of bone and soft tissue pathology at the Emory University School of Medicine, reviewed the official autopsy report, which Gray’s family obtained from the Virginia medical examiner’s office. Dr. Edgar says Gray suffered an acute pulmonary edema during the execution, with liquid in his upper airways and blood entering his lungs while he was still breathing. “The anatomic changes described in Ricky Gray’s lungs are more often seen in the aftermath of a sarin gas attack than in a routine hospital autopsy,” Edgar said. “This is of concern especially given the fact that midazolam is not an anesthetic, but a sedative often used for medical procedures requiring conscious sedation and the issue that the compounded drugs used in this case may have lacked potency or been impure.” Virginia’s lethal-injection protocol consists of three drugs: midazolam, a sedative intended to render the prisoner unconscious, followed by a paralytic intended to stop the prisoner’s breathing, followed by potassium chloride, which stops the prisoner’s heart. The use of midazolam in executions is controversial because it is not an anesthetic, it is used in medical settings only for lower levels of sedation rather than to produce full unconsciousness, and its use has been linked to numerous problematic executions. In Virginia, both the midazolam and the potassium chloride are produced by compounding pharmacies whose identities are secret under state law. “This way of dying is intolerable. You can’t control your breathing—it is terrible,” Edgar said. “When it is this severe, you can experience panic and terror and, if the individual was in any way aware of what was happening to them, it would be unbearable.” After Edgar’s report was released on July 6, lawyers for William Morva—whose execution was scheduled in Virginia that night—asked Governor Terry McAuliffe for a temporary reprieve. “We believed a reprieve was appropriate to allow time for further investigation to ensure that the Commonwealth carries out future executions—including Mr. Morva’s—in a manner that avoids unnecessary pain and suffering,” explained Rob Lee, one of Morva’s attorneys. McAuliffe denied the reprieve, and witnesses reported that Morva made a loud noise after the midazolam was administered and had several sharp contractions of his abdomen. The same three-drug protocol used in Virginia has been proposed for use in Ohio, but is being challenged in court by death-row prisoners.

(F. Green, “Pathologist says Ricky Gray’s autopsy suggests problems with Virginia’s execution procedure,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 7, 2017.) See Lethal Injection.