Tommy Lynn Sells
Tommy Sells, 49, was executed by the State of Texas by lethal injection on April 3, 2014, at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. His lawyers asked for the name of the pharmacy supplying the state's pentobarbital, arguing they needed it to verify the drug's quality and to protect him from unconstitutional pain. Texas prison officials said the supplier's identity had to stay secret to protect the pharmacy from threats, and state attorneys said the new drug supply fell within acceptable potency ranges, a claim his lawyers said they could not confirm. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the execution.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His lawyers objected that Texas kept secret the pharmacy supplying its pentobarbital, arguing they could not verify the drug's quality and that it risked unconstitutional pain.
Reported by: Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the agency that held him); WSIU news report (reporters).