JACKSON, Ga. --- Fifteen minutes ended nearly 15 years of waiting Tuesday night when a pair of doctors in white coats said the lethal injection of three deadly chemicals into the arms of convicted murderer Mark McClain had stopped his heart.
Mr. McClain, wearing white-and-blue prison garb, had been led into a small room with viewing windows just minutes earlier and was strapped to a table by the six guards from the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison at about 6:51 p.m. His eyes blinked rapidly for just a minute before two nurses put one IV each into his left and right arms and guards taped his fingers to the board on which they rested. Shortly after, Warden Steve Upton asked Mr. McClain whether he had any last words or would like a prayer. Mr. McClain -- who had remained quiet and still -- simply stated, "No, I'm fine."
My path from newspaper reporter to execution monitor and back began outside the prison, where reporters from Georgia Public Radio, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other Georgia media all waited for word that a van had arrived to take them inside.
As a reporter from the county where Mr. McClain's murder occurred, I was asked beforehand to be a monitor as doctors and guards prepared Mr. McClain for the execution and was taken inside first.
My escort drove me to an administration area where I was sent though metal detectors and past layers of security. We walked through a long tunnel underneath double razor-wire fences.
I waited for about 15 minutes in the visiting area, where inmates are allowed to spend time with their families. It was immaculately clean and empty. I was reminded that Mr. McClain had no visitors and chose only to make a few phone calls. At 6:39 p.m. we drove to the back of the prison to watch the nurses prepare Mr. McClain.
Flanked by attorneys from the Georgia Department of Corrections and the Georgia Attorney General's Office, I sat in the first of several wooden "church pews" that faced a pane of glass. Beyond sat an empty table with black straps.
Mr. McClain entered with Mr. Upton and six prison guards at 6:49 p.m. His face was expressionless as he lay on the table. All six guards pressed down on his body. Mr. McClain was motionless as they fastened the straps around him. At 7:09 p.m., a series of three drugs began entering Mr. McClain's bloodstream. His eyes closed first. About a minute later, his chest began heaving in quick-paced last gasps until stopping suddenly. His face -- which had been flushed -- changed shades from purple to gray to white. At 7:24 p.m. Mr. McClain was pronounced dead per the order of the state of Georgia. I was rushed away and didn't look back.
Reach Adam Folk at (706) 823-3339 or adam.folk@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
News? Where is the Christian nation? No wonder some churches are allowing weapons 'cause with these Christians, U may need a little protection...the "system" worked.
Yes, justass, the system worked, about 14 years late, but it did work!
Yo Skimpy159, I'm with you. Line em up at the front door & run 'em through two at a time. No worries if they 'suffer.'
When a suspect is given a fair trial, and all evidence rules out innocence of someone who holds the value of someone else’s life at a few hundred dollars I say take that person out the same way they killed the other poor soul. I’m pretty sure people would THINK more before they decide to make terrible choices. Or simply fast track the process. Avg. cost of keeping an inmate per year can be around $20,000 of tax payer’s money. In respect of those who gathered to protest the execution of this murderer, two wrongs certainly don’t make a right. Maybe we can find an island somewhere and ship off all the people on death row and you all can be the tribe leaders of these convicted murderers.
Oh good for you.. you cowards, for protecting yourselves from this man who was so threatening you. Our criminal justice system is flawed, and we kill people.
We intentionally kill people.
We plan it.
ok lets see one of your family members get kill and see you say oh let him just live in prison i don:t think so.
Crap! You just don't get it! Ignorance, tsk tsk.
No Margo, I don't think YOU get it!!!
Sorry he wasn't given a luxury suite at the Hilton, JUSTUS. I guess it's the effect of the "non-minority media" you're always ranting about.
This was about 15 years and many, many taxpayer dollars late.
Margot until you are a family member of a victim who has been murdered by someone you do not truly know how you will feel, I'm sure this mans family finds comfort in knowing that the animal who murdered there son is now dead. He did not have to kill this man, he did it because he just wanted to and last night he got his just deserve, I feel no sorry for him, only for his victims family.
I wish reporters would be educated enough to know the term "Mr." is a title of respect. Convicted criminals, especially convicted murderers, should not be addressed as mister.
Having grown up and gone to school with Mark, I knew him fairly well. For many years we played baseball together. He always seemed like a good kid until around his senior year in high school (1985). At that time, he took a turn for the worst. He started using drugs and became reckless. In my opinion, the death of his mother a year earlier had a profound, negative impact on him. She was a very sweet woman, and I thought the world of her. I can still remember her serving as the school lunch line cashier. She was always cheerful and had a kind word to share. I think the good Lord was looking out for her when he called her home.
Mark’s murder of Kevin Brown is inexcusable, and I am not opposed to the death penalty in such cases. My only hope is that he and his victim came to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before their early demise.
May the Lord have mercy on Mark and his victim Kevin Brown.