Georgia Videotapes Execution

The state of Georgia put to death a man named Andrew DeYoung last night in what is believed to be the first videotaped US execution since 1992—and the first ever taped execution involving lethal injection. DeYoung, 37, consented to the filming, which was ordered by a judge in connection with another inmate's lawsuit over the state's lethal injection procedure, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The videographer was in the execution chamber just a few feet away from DeYoung, who killed his parents and teenage sister in 1993 in an attempt to gain control of his parents' money. Lawyers challenging the state's execution procedure argue that a new drug being used in the lethal injection cocktail is "unsafe" and causes needless suffering. DeYoung's execution, however, went smoothly. " He looked like he went right to sleep," a witness said. (More Georgia stories.)