First execution of death row prisoner Johnnie Baston with single injection of drug used for putting down pets

A killer was put death today with a single injection of the sedative pentobarbital - the first time the drug has been used in a U.S. execution.

Johnnie Baston, 37, was executed this moing at the Southe Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, for the 1994 murder of a store owner. 

Pentobarbital is normally used to put down pets and other animals.

Baston was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m. 

Prosecutors alleged that Baston, who had a juvenile record as a thief, had killed Chong Mah and taken team logo hats and 'starter' type jackets from the store, according to Baston's clemency report.

Baston, who was 20 at the time of the murder, admitted to participating in the robbery but denied shooting Mah.

Baston said he had no intention to kill anyone, and that an accomplice had committed the murder.

The defense argued in an appeal for clemency that the family of the victim did not want Baston to be sentenced to death and still opposed his execution.

The defense also argued that Baston, who had been abandoned by his mother and abused by his father, has been a model inmate and participated in several community service projects.

Ohio Goveor John Kasich denied the petition for clemency.

Smith said Baston had no requests for his last meal, so he ate on Wednesday night what everyone else at the prison was eating: beef macaroni casserole, spinach, peas, fresh fruit, wheat bread and a beverage.

In the past, Ohio has had problems inserting needles into prisoners, including the 2009 execution of Romell Broom, who was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a teenage girl.

Death chamber: In Ohio, the inmate can have three personal witnesses to his execution, but if he wants his lawyer present he has to give up one of their places

The goveor stopped the procedure after two hours. Broom complained that he was stuck with needles at least 18 times and suffered intense pain.

He has sued, arguing a second attempt to put him to death would be unconstitutionally cruel. 

Now Baston's execution is expected to give inmates speedier access to attoeys in case something goes wrong when needles are being inserted and make the process more open.

An attoey conceed about how an execution is going could use a death house phone to contact a fellow lawyer who in tu could alert officials, said a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

The drug is normally used to put down pets and other animals

.But the inmate will have to give up one of his three personal witnesses -usually a family member - to have the lawyer present.

Judges will have the final say on problems, which will limit abuse of the system.

Although the prisoner will now be just a few feet from witnesses as the needles are inserted, a curtain will be drawn and the procedure will still be shown on closed-circuit television.

Using CCTV is meant to protect the anonymity of the executioners and to reduce the pressure they might feel having an audience watching them work.

Even before the change, Ohio had one of the most transparent execution procedures in the country.

Several states, such as Missouri, Texas and Virginia, show nothing of the insertion procedure and allow witnesses to watch only as the lethal chemicals begin to flow. 

Oklahoma also uses pentobarbital, a barbiturate, but in combination with other drugs that paralyze inmates and stop their hearts.

Ohio switched to pentobarbital after the company that made the drug it previously used, sodium thiopental, announced production was being discontinued.

Baston was sentenced to die for killing 53-year-old Chong-Hoon Mah, a South Korean immigrant who set up two business in Toledo. He will become the ninth prisoner to be executed this year.

Republican Goveor John Kasich last week rejected Baston's plea for mercy  based on the victim's family's opposition to capital punishment.