Florida executes Mark Asay
Listen to this articleIn an interview on Wednesday with News4Jax at Florida State Prison in Raiford, a tearful Mark Asay said he was a born-again Christian and was ready to die although he preferred to live. He denied killing one of the two victims he was convicted of murdering three decades ago in Jacksonvillle. (News4Jax)
WASHINGTON – A white supremacist was executed Thursday night in Florida after 30 years on death row, Florida corrections officials said – marking the first time the state has put a white person to death for killing a black person.
Mark Asay, 53, was convicted in 1987 of killing Robert Lee Booker, as well as cross-dresser Robert McDowell, a Latino who also used the name Renee Torres.
Asay’s final meal at Florida State Prison in Raiford was fried pork chops, fried ham, French fries, vanilla swirl ice cream and a can of Coke.
At 6 p.m. EDT, Asay was given three injections, beginning with etomidate, an anesthetic that had never been used in a U.S. execution. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. EDT.
Asay made no last statement, and did not speak or show any indication of pain during the execution, a Florida corrections department spokesperson said. Earlier in the day, he met with family members and a spiritual advisor.
On Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, and Gov. Rick Scott did not intervene with a stay just before Asay was put to death. He was the first person executed in Florida since January 2016.
The article is republished with permission from Talk Media News.
Regina Holmes has more than two decades of experience as a journalist –editing and reporting for news dailies including the Miami Herald, Newsday and the Baltimore Examiner. She also launched an award-winning investigative news website that tackled police and political corruption in Baltimore. She has worked as a consultant for the World Bank and Baltimore County Public Schools. Regina became a journalist because even as a child she was fascinated by the power of the press: how it could force a president out of office, elect a president, expose corruption, and shine a light on discrimination. She is passionate about giving a voice to people who are disenfranchised, ignored or powerless, including people of color, senior citizens, the impoverished, people with disabilities, veterans, and children. Issues in which she is particularly interested include race relations, criminal justice, and police brutality. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Vassar College and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. In her spare time, Regina enjoys traveling,antiquing, window-shopping for carsand watching HGTV.