COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s governor refused Tuesday to spare a condemned inmate who raped and killed a pregnant woman nearly 25 years ago and faces execution next month by a method of lethal injection never tried in the United States.
Governor John Kasich’s rejection of mercy for death row inmate Dennis McGuire followed a recommendation last month by the Ohio Parole Board. The governor did not explain his ruling, as is customary when Kasich denies mercy to death row inmates.
The board voted unanimously against mercy for McGuire, despite arguments by his lawyers that he be spared because of his chaotic and abusive childhood and the failure of his original attorneys to work hard enough on his behalf.
Kasich’s decision came as attorneys trying to stop the execution argued in federal court that McGuire will experience ‘‘agony and terror’’ because of the effect of the new execution method.
The drugs will not sedate McGuire properly, and he will experience a suffocation-like syndrome known as air hunger, the attorneys said in filings Monday and Tuesday.
They also said McGuire exhibits several symptoms of sleep apnea, which could exacerbate the problem.
The drugs were chosen because of a shortage of other lethal injection drugs.
The dose planned for McGuire is not enough to properly sedate him, meaning he will experience ‘‘the horrifying sensation’’ of being unable to breathe, Harvard anesthesiology professor David Waisel said in a Tuesday filing.