Charles Warner was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma for the 1997 rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter. This was the state’s first execution after the highly publicized botched lethal injection of Clayton Lockett the previous year. In response to that earlier failure, officials increased the dose of the sedative fivefold, following a protocol similar to the one used successfully in Florida.

Before the drugs were administered, Warner said the technicians had poked him five times and that it already felt like acid. In his final statement he apologized for the pain he had caused, insisted he was not a monster and had not done everything alleged against him, and expressed love for his family and for Jesus. He also asked that a message of love be passed to his young daughter.

After the first drug was injected, Warner said, “My body is on fire. No one should go through this. I’m not afraid to die.” He then showed no further outward signs of distress and was declared dead at 7:28 p.m. Central Time.
His attorney, Madeline Cohen, who witnessed the execution, later pointed out that the second drug—a paralytic—acted as a “chemical veil.” Because of it, she said, it was impossible to know whether Warner had experienced the intense pain of burning and suffocation that the remaining chemicals can cause if the sedative fails to keep a person fully unconscious.