The prisoner who appeared to have been awake during the execution
The prisoner who appeared to have been awake during the execution In 2016, Ronald Bert Smith Jr. was sentenced to die by lethal injection for shooting convenience store clerk Casey Wilson in a 1994 robbery that prosecutors described as an execution-style murder. For 13 minutes after he was sedated, Smith was seen coughing, gasping and moving. He heaved his chest repeatedly during the 30-minute execution process and appeared to raise his arms slightly after two tests were administered to determine consciousness. Smith's legal team says these movements show "he was not anesthetized at any point during the agonizingly long procedure," but Alabama's Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn disputes that Smith was in pain. An investigation continues. Ronald Smith, 45, was pronounced dead at 11.05pm at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, where he was executed by lethal injection, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections said. Smith visibly struggled for n...