Ronald Bert Smith
Ronald Bert JR Smith was executed by lethal injection by the State of Alabama at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore on December 8, 2016, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Spencer Hahn, a federal defender who witnessed the execution, testified at a federal hearing that Ronald Bert JR Smith appeared conscious and in distress for many minutes after the first drug was given, and that he was pronounced dead about 34 minutes after the protocol began. An Alabama Reflector article reports that he coughed and heaved during the execution, and that midazolam, the sedative used in the process, is not designed to produce full unconsciousness.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. A federal defender who witnessed the execution testified that Smith appeared conscious and in distress for many minutes after the first drug was given.
Reported by: Alabama Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Spencer Hahn, federal defender, in testimony at the federal hearing (court).
Custody: Serving a sentence.