The other Death Row inmates The front page shows 37 of the 43 inmates sentenced to death in Indiana. Inmates sentenced in Indiana, but are serving other sentences in another state. Although these minimum ages are still law, a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling banned execution for murders committed before age 16. A fast-acting barbiturate, or sedative, is first injected to put the prisoner to sleep. Two additional drugs are then injected to stop the prisoner's breathing and heartbeat.
Death usually occurs within minutes after injection.
Prisoner is strapped in a chair in an airtight chamber. Glass globes containing cyanide drop from beneath the chair and break in a crock containing sulfuric acid. The two chemicals mix and form deady hydrocyanic acid. The person loses consciousness in seconds and usually dies within five minutes. Prisoner is brought into a special room called a death chamber and is strapped into an electric chair.