A South Carolina man set to die by lethal injection is requesting a delay until more information is gathered about the drug that will kill him. 

The execution of Marion Bowman Jr. is set for Jan. 31, but he is concerned that the drug used to put another man to death in November required two large doses more than 11 minutes apart.

An anesthesiologist involved in reviewing autopsy records of Richard Moore, who was executed on Nov. 1, 2024, showed fluid in Moore’s lungs, leading lawyers to believe he “consciously experienced feelings of drowning and suffocation during the 23 minutes that it took to bring about his death,” according to The Associated Press.

South Carolina executed Richard Moore on Nov. 1, 2024, by lethal injection, but he required two doses of the drug for his heart to stop. (Justice 360 via AP)

After that, the heart will have periodic, irregular beats for as long as 20 minutes before it stops, which could possibly be detected on a heart monitor and might have led to the second dose of pentobarbital, Antognini said.

State lawyers also said that Moore and another inmate who died by lethal injection had an attorney witness their deaths and “neither lawyer ever claimed that either man showed any signs of pain during his execution.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.