Can a vein save a convicted killer? It the case of Romell Broom—it might. Broom was sentenced to death for raping and murdering 14-year-old Tryna Middleton on Sept. 21, 1984. Broom isn't supposed to be alive to witness the 25th anniversary of Middleton's death—but he is. Last Tuesday, the execution team at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility spent several hours trying unsuccessfully to find a viable vein for a lethal injection. Now, Ohio is faced with the difficult task of determining whether it can try to execute Broom a second time, after it botched the first attempt.
On Sept. 15, an execution team of at least 12 people spent over two hours trying to prepare Broom for the three-drug lethal injection. Technicians were able to locate several veins, but none of those veins were strong enough to administer the injection. "The team is required to test the viability of the site with a saline solution, but when they flushed the solution through Mr. Broom's IV site the veins became unusable, meaning the saline solution would not flow through his veins," said Julie Walburn, chief communications officer at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
WHAT HAPPENED TO A GOOD OL FASHION BULLET TO THE HEAD
