A Georgia man became the first inmate in the United States to be put to death

 

A Georgia man became the first inmate in the United States to be put to death since the botched execution of an Oklahoma man in April.

Marcus A. Wellons, 59, was declared dead at 11:56 p.m. Tuesday at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The newspaper was one of the media witnesses to the execution.

Wellons' execution was one of three scheduled in less than 24 hours.

John Winfield was scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. CT Wednesday in Missouri and John Ruthell Henry's execution was scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in Florida.

Wellons was convicted in 1993 of raping and killing India Roberts, 15, in Cobb County, just outside Atlanta.

Earlier, Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Rodriguez-Presley said the execution drug to be used was pentobarbital, the same as Georgia has used in the past. Georgia uses a single execution drug, while Oklahoma uses a lethal cocktail, she said.

Clayton Lockett was put to death in April in Oklahoma.

Execution witnesses said Lockett, a convicted murderer and rapist, convulsed and writhed on the execution gurney and struggled to speak before officials blocked the witnesses' view.

Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after being administered the first drug, CNN affiliate KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City reported.

A team that prepared Lockett for execution in April failed to set a properly functioning I-V in his leg, according to preliminary findings of an independent autopsy released last week.