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After spending 20 years on death row, 55-year-old Angel Nieves Diaz‘s execution took place in a Florida State Prison. However, the execution went horribly wrong when he started to gasp in pain and his skin started turning black.
Diaz had always maintained his innocence after his conviction back in 1986 over the murder a Miami strip club manager in 1979. However, Diaz was found guilty and sentenced to death in an 8-4 vote by a jury and placed on death row.
Read on to discover the death row prisoner’s agonising ‘botched’ execution as witnesses say they saw his ‘skin turn black and peel’.
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Death row killer’s ‘botched’ execution explained
Around 6 pm on 13 December 2006, during his execution, a lethal cocktail of drugs was mistakenly pumped into soft tissue in Diaz’s arm instead of his veins. This resulted in him being in excruciating pain with his left arm covered in an 11-by-7 inch chemical burn. The burn caused his skin to turn dark, almost black, with some parts peeling, The Sun reports.
Diaz remained conscious after being administered the dose and at one point asked: “What’s going on?” This meant he needed a second dose to kill him, containing three chemicals. One to lessen the pain he was experiencing, the second to paralyse his body and the last to cause his heart to stop.
Even after the 24th minute when he was presumed dead Diaz suddenly “jolted” with his eyes opened wide. When Diaz was finally pronounced dead, the execution had lasted 34 minutes instead of the usual 10 to 15.
Diaz’s execution led the Governor at the time, Jeb Bush, to suspend all executions in Florida. A federal judge extended this to all executions in California, whilst they reviewed the lethal injection protocol. Following Diaz’s death, Florida’s execution chamber was not used for more than 18 months. It was open when Mark Schwab was killed by lethal injection on 2 July 2008.
Witnesses saw Angel Nieves Diaz‘s ‘skin turn black and peel’
In the execution room at Florida State Prison in Raiford, Diaz refused his last meal. Instead, he gave one last statement: “The state of Florida is killing an innocent person. The state of Florida is committing a crime because I am innocent.
“The death penalty is not only a form of vengeance but also a cowardly act by humans.” Diaz continued.
The prosecution’s case relied on evidence from one of Diaz’s inmates, Ralph Gajus, who said he had confessed in jail to killing the bar manager. Diaz’s legal team later presented a sworn declaration from Gajus, who admitted to lying because he was angry with Diaz. However, the governor refused to grant clemency to Diaz as his execution date was set.
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Source: | This article originally belongs to The Focus
