Ohio governor says no executions likely this year

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says it’s “highly unlikely” the last execution scheduled for this year will be carried out as the state struggles to find lethal injection drugs.

The Republican DeWine reiterated his concern that drugmakers might cut off supplies of medications to state agencies if they learn any of their drugs were used for capital punishment.

DeWine’s comments Friday mean a probable delay for the Dec. 11 execution of James Hanna, who is sentenced to die for killing cellmate Peter Copas at the Lebanon Correctional Institution in 1997.

DeWine initially delayed executions because of concerns about the constitutionality of the first pharmaceutical used in Ohio’s three-drug method.

That drug, the sedative midazolam (mih-DAY’-zoh-lam), has been used in several problematic executions. Critics say it doesn’t render inmates deeply unconscious enough.