Just like TGI Friday’s and other chain restaurants, the state of Florida has decided to end the summer with a zing by serving up a trendy new cocktail—except this one is available only to death row inmates. The state’s first customer was Mark Asay, who was executed today for the murders of two men that occurred during an evening of drinking, carousing, shooting pool, and trolling for prostitutes. Asay shot both men to death, one of whom was black and one of whom was of mixed race. Asay was pegged by law enforcement as a white supremacist, and was the first white killer ever to die in Florida for murdering a black victim. Inside the execution chamber, Asay’s lethal cocktail began with a substance called etomidate, which sounds like a web site for singles but is actually an anesthetic. That drug, which is followed by a paralytic and a drug to stop the victim’s heart, replaces the hard-to-find midazolam, which sounds like one of those monsters who once fought Godzilla but is actually another anesthetic. Some critics claimed that etomidate’s safety had not been proven, but Florida countered with the claim that Asay was only at risk of suffering “mild to moderate pain” during the procedure.
Prior to the execution, vendors outside the prison blasted the Huey Lewis song “I Want a New Drug” while selling T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan You’ve Been Etomidated!
For his last meal, Mark Asay had fried pork chops, fried ham, French fries, vanilla swirl ice cream, and a can of Coke.
