LUCASVILLE, Ohio – In the last use of a lethal-injection drug, the state has executed a gunman who spewed racial slurs before the killings of an African-American man and a police officer during a 1994 rampage at his apartment complex in a Cleveland suburb.
The lethal injection was the last before the state’s supply of its execution drug expires.
Harry Mitts Jr., 61, was executed this morning at the state prison in Lucasville after years of acknowledging his crimes and saying he’s repented. The prisons department says Mitts visited with his attorneys, a spiritual adviser and a friend Tuesday evening.
Ohio’s supply of the powerful sedative pentobarbital is expiring after Mitts’ lethal injection. The state says it expects to announce its new execution method by Oct. 4.
He’s been constantly watched heading into the execution after two recent high-profile prison suicides.
Mitts was convicted of aggravated murder and attempted murder after he killed John Bryant, a neighbor’s black boyfriend, and a white Garfield Heights police sergeant, Dennis Glivar.
Mitts yelled racial slurs before the killings. But he has said he’s not a racist and has found God.