Texas Set For First Execution Since Obtaining New Supply Of Lethal Injection Drugs

In March, Texas acquired a new supply of pentobarbital, the sole primary drug it uses for executions, from an unidentified “licensed pharmacy” according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).

A TDCJ spokesman said that it has acquired more pentobarbital to conduct all four executions scheduled next month, including Sprouse’s.

“The drugs were purchased from a licensed pharmacy that has the ability to compound,” TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark said.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Sprouse’s case last November. He did not have any last-day appeals in the courts to stay the execution scheduled for Thursday at 6:00 p.m. CDT.

His lawyer presented an insanity defense to the court, but the jury rejected the defense and sentenced Sprouse to death for capital murder.

Sprouse told an officer that he shot Moreno because he thought he was an undercover cop, according to court records. “And I shot the other officer that was in uniform,” he said.

He has unsuccessfully appealed to courts to focus on the question of whether he was mentally ill at the time of the shootings and therefore should not be executed.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice