The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
July 6, 2017

Virginia Prepares Lethal Injection That Previously "Drowned" Prisoner
---------------------------------------------------------------------

In Virginia, prison officials are preparing to kill a condemned man
using a three-drug lethal injection cocktail that critics say will lead
to a torturous death equivalent to drowning. Thirty-two-year-old William
Morva is scheduled to receive the lethal drugs at 9 p.m. this evening at
the Greensville Correctional Center. According to autopsy records, the
last prisoner killed by Virginia six months ago, Ricky Gray, died after
the same lethal injection method brought on acute pulmonary
edema-effectively drowning Gray in blood-tinged fluid he coughed up
during the execution. Morva's attorneys argue the approach is
unconstitutionally cruel and unusual.


.