Daniela Berson
WMAL.com
ALEXANDRIA, VA — (WMAL) Thursday’s scheduled execution of Virginia serial killer Alfredo Prieto is tentatively postponed after U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga agreed to listen to arguments about the drugs to be used in the lethal injection.
The drugs for the execution were shipped to Virginia from Texas.
A drug manufacturer, Mylan, raised concerns when it asked Virginia officials not to use their rocuronium bromide product in Prieto’s execution.
Rocuronium bromide has other uses and Mylan’s spokesperson said that the product was sold to Virginia through a wholesaler.
A hearing on the lethal injections is scheudled for Thursday afternoon, while the original time for Prieto’s execution is Thursday at 9 p.m.
Prieto’s attorneys want the judge to investigate the drugs due to a number of previous cases where the drugs did not kill the intended recipient right away.
If the drugs are determined to be usable, the execution will proceed as planned.
Copyright 2015 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Virginia Department of Corrections)
