Many experts believe that the death penalty harms society by cheapening the value of life. Allowing the state to inflict death on certain of its citizens legitimizes the taking of life. The death of anyone, even a convicted killer, diminishes us all. Society has a duty to end this practice which causes such harm, yet produces little in the way of benefits. Authorities said that the death row inmate, Charles, was reportedly convicted of the ra-e and murder of an 11-month-old girl. Prosecutors said that the defendant was convicted of the first-degree ra-e and murder of his then girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter.
Before the injection, he was asked for his final words to which he responded, “Before I give my final statement, I’ll tell you they poked me five times and it feels like acid. “I’m sorry for all the pain I caused,” Warner continued. “I’m not a monster. I didn’t do everything they said I did. I love people. I love my family. I love Jesus.” He went on to thank his mother and sister for their support, and said to “tell my baby girl she means the world to me.”
According to NBC, after the first of the three drugs were administered, Charles said, “My body is on fire. No one should go through this. I’m not afraid to die.” He showed no other signs of physical distress afterwards. He was declared dead at 7:28 p.m Central Time. Madeline, Charles’ attorney, was there to witness the executions and said that due to a second drug, a paralytic, there was no way to tell if Warner was suffering or not.
“Because the state injected Mr. Charles with a paralytic tonight, acting as a chemical veil, we will never know whether he experienced the intense pain of suffocation and burning that would result from injecting a conscious person with rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride,” Madeline said. Dear readers, we are republishing this story in light of recent reports about botched executions in the United States. It’s estimated that 3% of U.S. executions between 1890 to 2015 were botched, with Lethal injection having the highest rate of failure.
