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An anti-death penalty organization released a scathing report regarding the pattern of botched lethal injection executions in the United States.

It found that Black people have 200 percent higher odds of being stuck in a agonizing limbo between life and death due to several errors by correctional facilities.

And that’s not all.

Reprieve’s report comes from a sample of over 1,400 botched executions from between 1976 and December 2023. Over that time period, the report found that of the white death row inmates, 4 percent experienced botched executions (28 out of 780 executions). Meanwhile, Black death row inmates experienced eight percent of botched executions (about 37 out of 465 executions).

One of those victims was Clayton Lockett, an Oklahoma death row inmate. It took 51 minutes and 16 different punctures to administer an untested lethal injection cocktail. When the officials resorted to his groin, they struck an artery leading to what the warden called a “bloody mess,” the report says. Lockett eventually died — but of a heart attack, not the cocktail.

Lockett’s case is only one of several cited in the report in which a Black man was punctured over a dozen times, leading to a horrifying scene of convulsions, quivering and everything opposite of the “quick and painless” procedure the government touts the lethal injection to be.

Read more from Reprieve’s report:

Regression analysis showed that the odds of a botched execution increased by 220% for Black people compared to white people, accounting for age and gender.

Analysis of the indicators identified in botched executions of Black and white people over the reporting period suggests there is no single factor connected to race causing the disparities witnessed. For example, Black and white people whose executions were botched experienced IV access complications at almost exactly the same rate (a one percentage point difference in occurrence). The occurrence of each indicator was tested for difference (where sample allowed) between Black and white prisoners, and no significant difference was found.

For decades, studies have documented that the death penalty discriminates against Black people, with racial bias impacting capital charging, death sentencing, execution, and exclusion from capital juries. This analysis of lethal injection executions over the last half century provides new evidence that racial disparities in capital punishment continue all the way into the execution chamber, with race playing a significant role in the odds of a person suffering a botched execution.

A number of factors contributed to these findings including secrecy in the execution process. In some executions, autopsy photos following the incident revealed the faulty work in the administration of the drugs. Inmates were seen with their eyes still open or covered in lacerations as officials tried to find a vein for the needle.

The report said several states also lack transparency in where they source the lethal cocktail, leading to a lack of clarity on its quality and effectiveness. This secrecy appears to have contributed to several botched executions, including that of Ricky Gray, a Black man in Virginia. A pathologist discovered that he suffered acute pulmonary edema during execution. The doctor found he was still conscious through the entire procedure, struggling to breathe as his airways were filled with liquid and blood.

The medication administered to Gray was  found to be “impure” and lacked potency, and was purchased from a pharmacy whose name was sealed by the state.

As horrifying as these findings are, years of death penalty analysis have taught us there’s something cruel and unusual about the process from the conviction rate to the actual execution.

“This report, especially its findings about the racial bias found in execution outcomes, is both shocking and unsurprising. Racial oppression relies on our willingness to dehumanize other people. And that same devaluing of human life is what makes painful, torturous executions something our nation has come to accept,” said Jamila Hodge, CEO of Equal Justice USA.