Lawyers Call For Investigation After Arkansas Inmate Groans And Convulses During 'Horrifying' Execution

Lawyers for an Arkansas inmate executed by lethal injection Thursday are calling for an investigation after witnesses claim to have seen the man die a "horrifying" death.

According to the BBC, journalists who watched the execution said Kenneth Williams' body jerked at least 15 times in three minutes after he received the first of three injections, which was meant to render him unconscious. 

Williams also moaned, breathed heavily, and made noises that could be heard through the protective glass as the execution process went on, the NY Daily News reported. He was pronounced dead 13 minutes after the procedure began.

“We tried over and over again to get the state to comport with their own protocol to avoid torturing our client to death, and yet reports from the execution witnesses indicate that Mr. Williams suffered during this execution,” said Shawn Nolan, one of Williams' lawyers.

But Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson called the execution a success Thursday night, and dismissed the calls for a probe into Williams' death during a press conference Friday.

"I see no reason for any investigation other than the routine review that is done after every execution," Hutchinson said at the presser.

Later Friday, a spokesman for the governor attributed Williams' mid-execution movements to "an involuntary muscular reaction" to midazolam — a sedative used in lethal injections that has been blamed for other botched executions within the past few years.

Nolan rejected that statement, saying the governor's spokesman was "trying to whitewash the reality of what happened."

"Press reports state that within three minutes into the execution, our client began coughing, convulsing, jerking, and lurching with sound that was audible even with the microphone turned off," Nolan contested.

Williams, 38, was the fourth man to be put to death by the state of Arkansas in the past eight days. 

The state had initially planned to execute eight inmates in 11 days in an effort to use up its supply of midazolam, which was set to expire on April 30, but courts issued reprieves in four of the cases.

Williams was convicted of killing former deputy warden Cecil Boren, 57, in 1999 after escaping from prison while serving time for the murder of a 19-year-old cheerleader a year prior.

After fatally shooting Boren and stealing his car, Williams led police on a high-speed chase that resulted in the death of Michael Greenwood, 24.

Williams had been on death row for the past 17 years. 

His final words were: "I humbly extend my apologies to those families I have senselessly wronged."